Rewind
by The Charmed Rose
Summary: After reading an incantation from one of her aunt Bonnie's books, ten year old Eliza Forbes is transported back in time to present day New Orleans. How can she get back? What will she tell the Mikaelsons? And why didn't her mother tell her that she had a half-sibling? Post 4x20 Klaroline
1. Chapter 1

**After seeing 4x20, I decided to try and write a Klaroline fanfiction as I'm still disgusted by the pathetic baby storyline.**

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Mystic Falls, 2018

There were three rules her mommy had always insisted upon.

1: Don't use her abilities at school (not that she ever listened), 2: Stop asking Uncle Stefan to watch Bambi with her (still, no one would tell her what the big deal was), 3: And never, _**ever**_ touch Aunt Bonnie's things.

She never was one for behaving.

...

In her defence, she had started out behaving!

It was just that she was so bored, leafing through Aunt Bonnie's grimores came to sound appealing. Mommy had left her Aunt Bonnie's, as she was having a retail therapy session with her mother, that she hadn't been invited to. To say she was bitter was a bit of an understatement, as she'd been grumbling to herself for the last ten minutes. What did mommy expect her to do? Watch Lifetime all day with Aunt Bonnie and her bookclub friends, whilst they bubbled in the background? No thanks!

So that was how she found herself in Bonnie's library. Technically it was her room, but with the amount of books in there, there wasn't much of a difference for Eliza. A rather thick book that was lying on Bonnie's desk caught Eliza's curious eyes, so without a word Eliza carefully climbed up on to the chair that was seated beside the desk. Once she was settled and comfortable on the seat, she reached forward and brought what she guessed was a spellbook on to her lap.

All of her friends at school had warned her that her knack for being nosy was what got her into trouble so much trouble, but where was the fun in no adventure? Constantly she was searching for new things to discover, whether it a new hide and seek hiding spot, a new dog joke to tease Uncle Tyler with, or even the times she thought she could find her daddy.

_No, you know what everyone says when they think you're not listening, he left! And he's not coming back!_

Yet she couldn't stop holding out hope, that one day she'd be able to meet her father. It didn't matter if mommy said he didn't care about them, when she was older, she promised herself that she'd go look for him.

Flicking the pages randomly, Eliza's eyes fell upon a one sentence spell. She giggled to herself at the spell, finding the words amusing. Not suspecting it would cause any harm if the spellbook belonged to her Aunt Bonnie, Eliza made an attempt to sound out the words. Her reading was improving rapidly ever since she began her days of torture at school, but numerous teachers and her mother had repeated time and time again that she needed to sound the words out if she was struggling to read the words. Eventually she reached the last word, pride bursting though her beaming smile that she wasn't a baby like those Salvawhore said she was. Damon was a man who popped up occasionally in her life, and seemed to only receive sneers and angry yells from her mother when he did so, a strange act considering he was supposedly Uncle Stefan's older brother. Why her mother chuckled to herself when she said his last name aloud, she'd probably never know.

Unfortunately for Eliza, whilst she was deep in thought she had failed to notice the purple haze surrounding her. She visibly gulped once she noticed, assuming that whatever it was was magic. But before she could even think of screaming out for help from Aunt Bonnie for what she recognised was a dangerous mistake, everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the reviews, follows and favourites from last chapter! **

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_**Beep! Beep! Beep!**_

Ugh!

How loud could an alarm clock be?

Eliza's eyes shot open with surprise, suddenly realising that the noise that had awoken her was not the shrill volume of her mother's alarm clock. And with that, within a second she remembered. She had read some sort of incantation, which had taken her somewhere. Great! Her mom was gonna kill her! With a sigh of defeat, Eliza got up of the ground that she had been lying on, standing tall and proud despite her small size.

_Okay, come on! The sooner I find my way home, the sooner I can get lectured by mom and be in bed._

Deciding to assess the area she was in, Eliza walked out from the unfamiliar ally and into an even unfamiliar street. As her eyes traced the streets, a slow but steady rise in panic began to overtake Eliza. She had lived in Mystic Falls her entire life, and despite her young age she had mapped out much of the small town in her head. But this place was a completely different setting culture wise to Mystic Falls.

God where was she?

_Don't cry idiot! You are Eliza Erica Forbes! Randall the bully from second grade trembles before you! You're a freaking legend in kindergarden for the amount of wedgies given to someone in an entire year! You're the daughter of a badass vampire Barbie!_

Feeling slightly more confident, Eliza stepped out into the crowds of tourists and residents, a plan ready and waiting to be put into motion. Although it was difficult to manage her way through the crowds of tall adults and the looks from being a child walking on her own, Eliza managed to find her way over to the nearby park. Beautiful and full of life, Eliza knew if it were different circumstances she would have enjoyed a visit here.

But she was not here for the scenery, she was here to attempt to find a witch among the "fortune tellers" that had gathered within the place. As she had the werewolf gene from her father's side of her family, among some of the gifts that came with it was the ability to sense other supernatural creatures. By no fault of her own Eliza had accidentally triggered her gene, barely able to resuscitate her friend who she had accidentally pushed into a lake. Once the dust had settled, Aunt Bonnie was able to cast a spell that would prevent her from transitioning, but in time once she got older the spell would wear off and she wouldn't have the luxury of a normal life anymore.

She shuddered thinking about it, instead forcing herself to refocus on what she needed to do, to try and get home. Her mother had began to teach her from day 1 of activating her wolf gene to hone her wolf senses, so she would be able to get herself out of trouble if she could not contact her mother for whatever reason. Yes a payphone probably would have been simpler, but how would she dial the number with her height? And she never carried any money, any dollars she received being immediately stored in her piggy bank. Yeah she was a dork, what of it?

Quicker then she had expected, Eliza was able to locate a witch. At first Eliza had almost walked past her, but a pulsing energy had seemed to build around the witch, drawing the young girl towards her. Though it made no sense, Eliza got a rather inviting feeling from this woman, an aura of kindness radiating from her. "Miss?" she called out, the witch's eyes trailing around her for the source of the voice till her eyes trailed downwards. "What can I do for you my dear?" she smiled kindly, indicating her head inviting her to the seat sat across from the desk she was seated upon.

Eliza climbed up on to the chair, taking note that chair climbing seemed to be a great way to burn off calories for her. She sat down upon the beige coloured chair with a loud plonk, her long gold curls bouncing as she did so.

"Can you help me get home?" Eliza began, wasting no time. "I know it's naughty to read some spells aloud, but considering it's Aunt Bonnie I didn't expect any of her spellbooks to transport me to some bozo town! And not to mention April's gonna give the "I'm so disappointed in you " pout, I'm mean I may be the most badass five-year old to roam this earth, but that thing is worse than tor-"

Eliza paused mid sentence, realising she had been rambling nervously for a while and the witch was staring at her with unrestricted amusement. "How does so much noise come out of someone so tiny?" The witch chuckled. Eliza blushed bright red, knowing full well it was one of the most common things that people associated with her mother and her. "Take my hands, and close your eyes," The witch instructed once she ceased her laughter. Eliza complied, doing so with the curiosity of what she was going to do. "Ah!" The Witch exclaimed unexpectedly, causing Eliza to jump a little. "Your name is Eliza Forbes, is it not?" "Yeah," confirmed Eliza, always finding it cool how she was extracting information.

"You're a long way from home Eliza."

"What, am I in Atlanta?"

The Witch let out a short laugh. "Oh no, you're a bit further than that." "You've travelled back in time young one, a great feat for someone as young as yourself. And a non –magical practioner at that." The Witch remarked. "Back in _**time**_?" shrieked Eliza, "God, I'm never going in Aunt Bonnie's room again," she mumbled.

After that the Witch released her hands, so she opened her eyes.

"What time am I in exactly?" "Do I have to worry about butterflies? Because contrary to popular belief, I do know most of what that movie is about."

"You're in New Orleans honey, and it's the year 2013." Eliza scrunched up her face in distaste, finding the news unsatisfying. "God this sucks!" she grumbled. "Look Eliza, you were sent here for a reason." Eliza looked up, frowning at the older woman's choice of words. "What kind of reason?" The woman thought to herself for a moment, as though contemplating if she should be allowed to know something.

"I think possibly to meet your father, the hybrid."

"My father? He's here?"

"I think if you find him, the rest will figure itself out." She explained, eyes baring into Eliza's. "Go find the vampire Marcel," she instructed. "You'll find him here." She scribbled some directions for the girl on to a piece of paper, handing it over. "Can't you come with me? How can I prove to my dad I am who I say who I am? My own mom doesn't even know me yet!"

"Eliza, I wouldn't tell you to find him if I didn't think he'd believe you. Just trust me, please." The woman pleaded. "Alright," Eliza agreed reluctantly, gearing herself up for a confrontation with yet another vampire. "Thank you!" Eliza smiled gratefully, before jumping of the chair and leaving the park as the witch watched her till she disappeared from her view.

"Believe me child, he'll know who you are."

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**Next chapter Eliza meets Marcel!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you so much for the kind reviews last chapter! :) Hope you enjoy!**

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"-_don't worry, be happy. Don't worry, be happy man_."

Eliza hummed quietly to herself, whilst staring at the bewildering instructions written on the map. She was close to wherever she was supposed to go, that much she knew, but couldn't quite figure out which street to go down. Frowning at the fact her mission had come to a standstill, she locked her attentions on to a young man sat outside a building.

Clearly he was homeless due to the state of his ragged dirty clothes, but seeing as she had no idea how to find this Marcel, she walked over to him. Immediately he noticed her approaching, looking up at her as though human contact was an unfamiliar subject. Unlike some people, (cough *Uncle Stefan* cough) Eliza's preferred method of learning needed information was to get friendly with the person she was interacting with. Her best friend Cece Donovan had always said her most prominent feature was her self-declared "sunshine Barbie smile" that could charm the pants out of the sternest of teachers.

"Hi!" Eliza greeted whilst beaming happily, unaffected by the man's frown of annoyance. She supposed she was invading his own personal space, and didn't have much social contact judging by his stellar conversing skills. "I'm Eliza Forbes, you may know of me from classic hits such as parent teacher conference stink bomb or the Salvatore boarding house trip wire of '17." She joked, nudging him in the ribs. "What the heck are you talking about kid?"

_Charming._

"Ricky, can I call you Ricky?"

"It's Mickey."

"So Ricky, _pal_, _friend__**, buddy**_," Eliza grinned, squeezing him on the shoulder lightly as she emphasised her words. "Do you know a guy called Marcel, who possibly only comes out at night, owns a coffin and doesn't look like he's seen the sunlight?"

Mickey's eyes widened in realization, shock inhabiting all of his features. "What's a kid like you doing in the French Quarter looking for a guy like Marcel?" "French Quarter?" Eliza frowned, scrunching her face up in confusion. "I thought I was in New Orleans, not France." Mickey arched an eyebrow, repressing a snort. "You don't really know much about geography do you?" he asked, Eliza admitting it with a nod. "Look, can you tell me where I can find Marcel or what?" she huffed cutting to the chase.

"Are you sure you need to see him?"

"No, I just wanted to ask him for hair care tips."

Mickey rolled his eyes at the girl, as he was growing rather eager to be rid of her. "Go down that street there," he pointed with his finger, "take the first left and you should find in a bar. It's the only one there, you can't miss it."

"I get to go to a bar? My mom never takes me to bars! I can't wait to brag about this when I get home!" Eliza cheered, already feeling hopeful about the outcome of her search. However despite their rather brief conversation, Eliza felt grateful the man had spared some time to help her, and felt a sharp sting of guilt that she couldn't repay him. So to repay him the only way she knew, she hugged him. And it wasn't your typical hug. Eliza was a self admitted lover of these things, and when she wrapped her arms around Mickey, he was sure that kind of strength that the child seemed to possess was supernatural. Much to his relief, she quickly let go of him.

Eliza got up from the ground, flattening out her crumpled white t-shirt. She shivered slightly, bringing her arms to her shoulders. She wished she had a jacket or coat with her, but she'd dumped her coat in the hallway the second she had been dropped off at Aunt Bonnie's. Oh god Aunt Bonnie! Had she noticed she was gone yet? And had had she told her mom? What worried Eliza the most was that when her mother worried, she really worried. She second guessed and over thought everything till someone calmed her down. Eliza resisted the urge to let the stray tears of guilt fall from her eyes, as she hated it when her mother cried. She hated being the one to cause her to feel that way, as she was the most loving person Eliza had ever known.

Even though she had only been apart from her mother for a few hours at best, she missed her terribly. What would she do if her dad couldn't get her back home? What if he didn't believe her, and she'd be trapped here? Her mommy in this time wouldn't even know who she was, and why would she believe her?

_No don't think like that. If you do that, you'll probably accomplish nothing._

Nodding to herself in determination, she reassured herself she would be able to get back for the lifetime of apologies that she would be giving her mother. Plastering a smile on her face, Eliza set off down the street leaving Mickey with some parting words as she began her walk.

"Thanks Ricky!"

"It's Mickey!"

...

Ten minutes later, Eliza emerged inside the bar she had been directed to. Eyes wide at the place, Eliza set off to work. She guessed as much that the witch had directed her to this Marcel guy, so he in turn could direct her to her father. The one giant flaw? She had no idea what Marcel looked like. But considering he probably hung out here a lot or possibly owned the place, someone had to know him.

However as she was strolling along, Eliza failed to notice the vampire that was headed her way. Before she could dodge him, Eliza bumped into the very man she was looking for. "Sorry sir." Apologised Eliza hurriedly, making a move to get past the man. However before she could blink he blocked her path, kneeling down in front of her. "Now who might you be?" he asked, flashing the young girl a cheeky smile to rival her own. "Eliza!" She smiled back, showing that she wasn't afraid despite him being a vampire.

"Well hello Eliza."

The vampire offered out his hand for her to shake, oddly polite considering half of the bar were staring at the pair with a slight look of fear in their eyes. What was the big deal? "Can I ask you what you doing in my bar Eliza? Where are your parents?" Eliza bit her lip awkwardly, unsure of if she could trust this man. Should she take the jump, and risk it all to find Marcel?

"I'm looking for someone called Marcel? Have you seen him?"

The vampire's smile grew impossibly wider, as he let out a light laugh. Why was everyone laughing at her today? "Well Eliza, you're looking at him." "Your Marcel?" Eliza questioned, letting out a sigh of relief of finding him after such a long journey. "That I am." He nodded, bowing his head mockingly to her. "At your service." "What is it I can do for you."

Eliza looked from side to side for anyone who could be possibly watching, although it was an unnecessary act considering the amount of vampires with super hearing in the room. "I think you can help me find my dad."

...

"Your dad is who?"

Eliza scowled to herself, as she despised having to repeat something. Grownups dad it all the time, resulting in her rolling her eyes at them regardless if they were looking at her or not. "K-l-a-u-s M-i-k-a-e-l-s-o-n." Eliza spelled out slowly, as though he was the child. "H-How the hell is that possible?" Marcel gaped, staring wide-eyed at the child as she was a completely alien subject to him. "I don't really know," Eliza remarked to herself in curiosity. She had never approached her mother on the subject, and even if she did she made it clear it wasn't something to be talked about by changing the subject abruptly.

"Please can I just explain it to you on the way?"

Marcel froze, unaware of what she was implying. "On the way to where?" he asked. "To my dad's ." she replied bluntly, as though she was convinced this was already true. "Look, if you don't want to take me there, I'll take directions, I got here by myself didn't I?"

"I'll take you there!"

"Really?" Eliza perked up, showing her pearly whites to Marcel. "So you believe me?" "Honestly, I don't think it's possible for someone to talk that much and be lying," he admitted, grabbing a coat. "Plus stranger things have happened."

"Hey can I call you anything for short?"

"No."

"Oh ! Marcy has a nice ring to it!"

Noticing the look she was getting that meant she was being "weird" according to Damon, Eliza opened her mouth. "Don't worry you'll get used to me eventually." Eliza reassured him seriously, patting him lightly on the shoulder before racing off to the door leaving a baffled Marcel gaping after her.

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**Sorry Marcel's a bit out of character, I just couldn't completely get him right.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I apologise for the shortness and the delay! Thank you for the reviews last chapter, and just to let you know I bumped up Eliza's age to ten years old. :) Hope you enjoy! Oh and Klaus will be popping up very soon!**

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"Pleeeease!"

"No! For the love of god, no!"

"It's two freaking bucks!"

"Eliza, I am not buying you a Barbie doll!"

...

"I request a piggyback!"

"Keep dreaming kid."

A long silence stretched between the two, before a loud noise echoed throughout the street.

"MAAARRCCCY!"

...

One hour later and a piggyback ride later (but what seemed like a lifetime for Marcel), the two were nearing closer to Klaus's house. "Are you sure we're close?" "Yes, I had his location pinpointed the moment he settled here." Marcel explained, sounding a little like he was bragging proudly. "So how does it work with this whole King thing anyway that you mentioned?"

Marcel shook his head, smiling at the amount of questions she was firing upon him. "I mean, do you just decide to become King or Queen of a city? Like maybe if I ask my mom to go to New York, I'll find some vampire King or Queen strutting it up over there?"

"Strutting it up?" Marcel questioned, finding Eliza using the phrase rather odd. "Where did you hear that?" Eliza paused for a moment, pondering for a moment as to how she had come to learn the phrase. "My mom. I think it was when uncle Stefan came back from his spring break in Miami and she was asking him how it was "strutting it up over there." Eliza air quoted over dramatically not really knowing what she was saying, whilst making a bad imitation of her mother's voice. "Except when uncle Stefan came back he didn't tan." Eliza paused, watching Marcel's amused look at the constant chatter she was providing. "Oh well," she brushed it off unaware she was could possibly offend Marcel, "vampires for ya!"

...

Once the pair eventually arrived at the mansion housing the original family, Marcel headed up the steps. He was sure his presence wouldn't be entirely welcomed, as he was still suspicious of Klaus's sudden change of heart on helping his friend with his blood. Marcel stopped mid-step, suddenly realising Eliza hadn't followed him. He turned around, more confused than ever as he eyed the girl.

She was staring up at the rather large building, staring wide-eyed as though it was towering above her for the sole purpose of intimidating her. She locked eyes with him, shrugging at his questioning look. "Aw kid, don't tell me you've got cold feet?" he sighed. "Once your dad get's over the initial shock, he'll see you for your annoying, cuddly self." "Must be a family trait," he remarked to himself.

Eliza smirked at his comment, grinning cheerily at the word most used to describe her. How these people would react she had no idea, but mom had always said that your family was one of the most important things in the world all the time, so maybe... "Okay!" she perked up, following Marcel up to the doorbell as she decided to take a chance. Marcel shook his head, unable to hide a small smile, as Eliza most certainly hadn't gotten that perky trait from Klaus.

...

It was almost 3pm in the afternoon, when Elijah heard loud chatter from outside his door. He'd just settled in an expensive silk armchair, having decided to catch up on some peace and quiet while Niklaus was out. He had contemplated calling Rebekah, but with the last debacle with him trying to persuade her to come to New Orleans, he figured it would be too soon to make contact with her again until he gave her some time to think about it.

Yet who could be outside?

Niklaus had stormed out of the house in the early hours of the morning, coming and going as he so pleased during the day. It was currently just the two of them residing in the house for the moment, plus he wasn't expecting anyone. Hearing the chatter continue, Elijah got up from the chair. He placed his book to one side, ears perking up as he recognised that one of the voices belonged to none other than Marcel. What could he want? And who on earth was with him? Marcel wouldn't stoop so low and plan an idiotic attack against them, so what were his motives for being here? However Elijah's interest was gained more so, when he quickly realised that the second voice belonged to a female child.

Deciding to investigate further, Elijah stepped out from the living room. He navigated his way to the front door, listening closely to the pair. Marcel wrapped his knuckle against the door a few times, awaiting for someone to approach. Bracing himself for what was to come, Elijah opened it to find himself staring at Marcel and the young blonde girl who was smiling back at him.

...

"Elijah!"

Marcel's cheery act did nothing to faze him, so instead he plastered on a fake smile for appearances. "Marcel," he nodded, not yet acknowledging the child. "What can I do for you?" "Well," he began, "is your brother in? Blondie over here got told by a witch that I'd be the guy to help track him down. So where is my old pal anyway?"

"Out." Elijah bluntly responded, eyes trailing down to the girl. She looked no older than ten years of age, and had gold curls that came down to her neck. Her sea blue eyes were baring into his, staring curiously at him as though he was a sight of great interest to her. But the most odd thing was that she seemed to look familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place where exactly he thought he had seen her before.

Eliza knew it was rude to stare at people, but it was just so surreal to meet someone she had heard so much about when growing up! Her mother had always had a smile on her face whilst recounting the tales of her vampire uncle that always wore suits, which she noticed that funnily enough he was wearing one at that moment. He was staring right back at her, most likely he was probably wondering why she was looking at someone she didn't even know so much.

Attempting not to be rude for the child's sake, Elijah knelt to her level. "Hello there," he smiled kindly to Eliza, offering out his hand for her to shake. _He really is quite proper._ "And may I ask who you are?" "Eliza. My name is Eliza." She replied politely, shaking his hand the best she could with the size difference. Elijah stood up, his attention returning back to Marcel. "Thank you for bringing her here." He turned to Eliza. "Would you like to come inside, so we're not subject to any prying ears?" Prying ears? What did he mean by that? Eliza looked to Marcel hesitantly, receiving a nod of confirmation that he could be trusted with this. Sighing in defeat, Eliza nodded, turning to Marcel once more. "Marcy are you a hugging kind of vampire?" Elijah frowned in confusion, curious about the fact she knew about vampirism and that she had dared to give Marcel a nickname and actually managed to get away with it.

"Er..." he drawled, unable to decide how to reply.

"Ah! Too slow, I'm a hugging kind of girl!" Eliza declared perkily, giving Marcel a squeeze on the leg before brushing past Elijah and into the house. "She's all yours." Marcel grinned, before turning way from the mansion.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you so much for the lovely reviews last chapter! :) I'm glad you like Eliza! I was gobsmacked that so many people had reviewed since last night! So I thank you for taking the time to read and review this story!**

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"So how did you come to be at Marcel's?" Elijah asked Eliza, as he sat across from where she was sitting. Ready to face the disbelief he'd throw her way, Eliza began to recount what had happened. "Well, I guess it started when mom dropped me off at my aunt Bonnie's, I mean it's bad enough I get the patronising stares off Fiona Gilbert because of my height, mom doesn't even think I'm old enough to go out into shops-"

"Eliza!"

"Right, sorry!"

"Did you happen to refer to Bonnie Bennett?" Elijah frowned, not convinced that the name was just a coincidence and with her mentioning the last name of Gilbert in her rambling. Eliza took a moment to think, then nodded in response. "And who is this Fiona Gilbert?" Elijah had to resist the urge to chuckle, as at the mention of the name a scowl appeared upon her face that was disturbingly similar to a certain brother of his. "Her majesty is the heir to Jeremy Gilbert," Eliza informed him, her scowl deepening. Elijah leaned forwards at the news, confusion filling his features. This girl clearly must live in Mystic Falls, but how come he had never come across her in his many visits? And not to mention he was sure he would know if Jeremy Gilbert had any children, which increased his confusion even more as the boy was also deceased.

"Eliza, seeing as how you must be from Mystic Falls, you must know that Jeremy Gilbert is dead?" Elijah tried to break to her gently. "No, he's not!" Eliza shook her head. "He's very much alive and kicking!" Her thoughts trailed off for a moment, before she realised why Elijah looked so confused at her reprisal. She giggled, shaking her head to herself at how this time travel business worked.

"Aunt Bonnie brought him back from the dead! Listen, I'll explain!" Eliza continued hurriedly as though it was a matter of great urgancy, waving her hands as she spoke. "I read a spell aloud from one of aunt Bonnie's grimores!" Elijah looked about ready to scold her, so she didn't give him a chance to speak. "The spell worked it's hocus pocus or whatever you call that witchy mumbo jumbo, and sent me back in time to here!"

"A spell sent you back in time?" Elijah repeated, unconvinced that the girl was lying to him. He'd never heard of such a spell before, but assuming she was telling the truth, magic may be more advanced in the future then it was currently. But still, that didn't explain what exactly it was she wanted. "Yeah. I have a an active wolf gene that's been hocus pocused away temporarily, but you see my mom's being teaching me to track other supes like me!" she exclaimed gleefully.

"Supes?"

"Supernatural creatures," explained Eliza, giggling to herself at the fact that uncle Stefan hadn't overstated it when he told her that her uncle Elijah was rather proper and old fashioned. "So I managed to find this witch," Eliza continued, "and she told me that if I went to Marcel, he'd take me to my dad." Eliza frowned to herself, suddenly realising the gaping hole in these orders she had failed to realise. She cursed herself, realising she hadn't actually asked how exactly her father could help her return home and back to her time. Elijah stared at the girl in shock, as the slow realisation began to dawn on him. Gulping, he stared at Eliza who was smiling at him nervously. "Eliza, do you mind my asking? Who is your father?" he asked, hoping to confirm what he strongly believed was already true.

"Your brother Klaus."

...

"H-How is this even possible?"

When Elijah thought about it, the more he noticed the similarities Eliza shared with his brother. The hair colour, the signature roll of the eyes which she just displayed when they thought he was asking an obvious question, the teasing smiles and even the smallest of body habits were just a few of the things he noticed.

"So..." Eliza teasingly smiled, already reminding him of his brother when patronising him. She leaned forward, mocking him as she mimicked his earlier movement. "Are you okay?" "Anything you wanna know?" Elijah let out an amused chuckle at her question, finding it amazing that she could be so calm about the matter. "The ten year old child who has been transported through time, is asking me if I'm alright?" Elijah stared. "Well uncle Matt's always telling me to "stop mouthing off at people", she air quoted, "and April keeps telling me that manners are everything." "Poor uncle Matt seems to think because my dad's side of the family is English or whatever I understand slang or whatever you call it, when in fact I'm always getting told I'm a hopeless case when I try to."

Elijah smiled in admiration at her happy chatter, glad to see that despite growing up in the supernatural world she was more or less a normal child. "Are you happy? With your life I mean?" Eliza had to think of how to reply to Elijah, unsure of how to express what her life was like. "I guess." She shrugged. "I mean despite the whole Fiona Gilbert thing, I've got Cece Donovan my best friend. And Mrs Powell's always saying to mom that I'm so good at history, she'll move me up five grades!"

Elijah stared knowingly at her, motivating her to fess up. "Okay, I'm good but I'm not that good. But the part about being good at history was true!" "Hey maybe it's because half of my family members lived through it!" Eliza added as an afterthought. "My life's pretty fine, I mean a lot of kids have a lot less family members then I do."

"What do you mean-"

Eliza never had the chance to respond, as the hurricane known as Rebekah Mikaelson came bursting through the doors of the house. "Elijah! Niklaus! Where the bloody hell are you two?" Eliza failed to contain a snort at Rebekah's language, bursting into laughter at the already noticeable difference between the two siblings personalities. She knew if looks could kill Elijah's definitely would, as he sent her a scolding look of disapproval at her childish giggles. "In here!" he called. Eliza listened closely to the tapping of Rebekah's shoes, as she neared closer to the living room. Eliza's eyes trailed to the door, as Rebekah appeared through the door.

Eliza had only seen very few pictures of Rebekah, a collection of them were in her mother's yearbook from her senior year of high school. Her aunt Rebekah had been in a lot of the cheerleading photos, along with her mother who hadn't failed to hide her very viable scowl of displeasure at Rebekah's presence in the photos. She knew it already, but it was still surprising to see the exact replica of her aunt walk through the door. She had always wondered what her aunt had behaved like, as it had seemed to be enough to make her mom dislike her immensely. But from what she had heard from others of a less bias view, her aunt Rebekah sounded incredibly cool.

Rebekah's eyes immediately landed on hers, as Rebekah took in the sight of the child. "Hi Rebekah!" Eliza greeted, unaffected by how weirded out Rebekah looked at the use of her name. Elijah failed to hide his growing smile, needing no explanation anymore as to how she knew the name of sister despite not bringing her up. Rebekah looked over to Elijah, wordlessly demanding an explanation as to how Eliza knew her name.

"Sister you have impeccable timing. This here is Miss Eliza, who has accidently transported herself through time, and is in need of our assistance." Not able to fully distinguish what Elijah was saying, Eliza simply nodded along. "What he said." "And believe it or not, she is also our niece."

"**WHAT**?"

"She has a good point 'Lijah, you do speak a little quiet sometimes."

...

"There is the impossible, and then there is this!"

"I'm right here!"

Eliza despised it when adults referred to her as though she wasn't in the room with them, when in fact she was. But she supposed she would have a hard time trying to get her point across, as Rebekah and Elijah were arguing back and forth about whether or not this was in fact possible. She swinged her legs back and forth, her legs not long enough to reach the floor. Eliza huffed, as the pair were going in circles.

"Elijah's it's a trick!"

"No! It's not! Rebekah just look at her!"

Reluctantly Rebekah complied, eyes returning to Eliza's. "You cannot tell me she doesn't look the least bit like Niklaus! And the things she's spoken of to me! Only someone from our family would know these things!" Rebekah sighed, staring closely at her. Deciding she may need a little more convincing, Eliza spoke up. "You didn't get to go to the twenties dance ." Rebekah frowned, surprised at her words. "What did you just say?" "I said that you didn't get to go to the twenties dance. Your witchy mom possessed you. You used to go out with my uncle Stefan, and why did you two break up anyway? He refuses to tell me! You and your family carved your names into a cave, you wore a yellow dress to prom and you really _**really **_don't like Katherine Pierce."

Rebekah stared jaw agape at the knowledge of her life that had been thrown at her, surprised she knew so much. "Oh my god, you really aren't lying are you?" Eliza shook her head, happy that although she had to remind her aunt of a sad detail, she now believed her. "You see?" Elijah remarked, flashing Eliza a smile.

...

"You have _**castles**_?" shrieked Eliza. Earlier on she had tried to ease the tension in the room, by very bluntly asking if it was true that they were more rich then all the monarchy put together, urging Rebekah to sit with her on the couch. "Yep!" laughed Rebekah, not even bothering to hide her amusement at the look of genuine shock on her face. "Wow, you really do have everything..." she mumbled silently, as she processed Rebekah's words.

"What's it like in the future?" Rebekah asked curiously, as Elijah observed the two with a smile. "Not that much different from now really," admitted Eliza, "except witches don't try to hide themselves a lot anymore." "Really?" called Elijah, as she had piped his interest. "Yeah." She nodded. "There's a lot more witches around now a days, and they're making you vamps look like teddy bears in comparison." Eliza grinned. "Oh see now I don't believe you," Rebekah teased knowingly, causing the pair to erupt into yet more laughter. Eliza's eyes narrowed in on Rebekah's hand, noticing a few rings that were on Rebekah's fingers. "They're really nice!" she smiled genuinely as she looked up to Rebekah's gaze, reaching out to trace the odd angles of the rings. "Thank you." Rebekah replied, unable to remember when she had last had such a simple yet wonderful conversation with a child.

"Hey! That one looks like uncle Ko-"

Neither original were listening, as when she spoke the words, Elijah's phone had rung loudly. He pulled the phone out from his breast pocket, pressing the phone to his ear once he had answered it. "Marcel? How did you get this number?" "Yes she fine."

"HI MARCY!" Eliza called, hoping for him to hear. She heard Marcel's light familiar chuckles erupt from the phone, causing Eliza to smile proudly that he still hadn't corrected her on his name. Rebekah lifted an inquiring eyebrow at Eliza, smiling at her odd yet amusing personality. "Yes, yes. Fine, I'll call you back soon." Elijah finished the conversation quickly, not even trying to hide the annoyance he felt towards the younger vampire. "Marcel was checking up on you." Elijah informed her. "Ah, I knew he would come around to me, it's physically impossible for anyone to resist my smile."

Both originals laughed at her absurdity, yet Eliza smiled through it. She'd enjoyed talking with her aunt and uncle for the past hour or so, finding herself glad that if she had to be stuck with anyone it was them. Elijah was a keen listener, he was never rude and was always willing to listen to you. Rebekah certainly wasn't as bad as the people of Mystic Falls had made her out to be, as she was one of the most sweetest people she had ever met. She never had a bad word to say to her, and was an interesting person to have a girlie chat with.

"No one told me we had guests."

The three heads span around, each meeting the eyes of Klaus.

* * *

**Dun dun dun! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for reviewing last chapter! :) Hope you enjoy!**

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"_Mom, why don't I have a dad?"_

_A few previous months ago, Eliza had worked up the courage to ask her mother Caroline about the gaping hole in her life. Never before had she dared ask, too afraid as to why he was not around. Her mother sighed, turning around from her place at Eliza's dresser. She had been hoping to just have a normal day and take her to her swimming lesson, but that seemed to not be the case. She moved to seat herself on the foot of the bed next to Eliza, eyes baring into hers. Caroline knew she could not avoid the subject forever, as when she got older her daughter would start to ask more and more questions. She wasn't sure she could answer, but she would have to at least try for Eliza's sake. She loved her daughter immensely, so if she had to open up old wounds to help give her some answers, she would gladly do so._

"_You do have one, but he's not around," she admitted, watching her daughter's reaction closely. She hoped to avoid going into details, not wanting the truth to come out just yet. "He had certain obligations," she began, sounding surprisingly upset, "that took him away from this town, and it left me doubting if I told him about you that he'd want to be here." She informed her sadly. Eliza noticed her mother start to form tears, so she did the only thing she knew that would cheer her up._

_Her mother chuckled, the tears subsiding slightly. "The one thing that always makes me feel better," Caroline laughed, smiling at the form of her daughter hugging her waist. Eliza released her, smiling back as she was glad her mom was smiling once more. No one as happy as her mom should ever cry, and she'd make sure that was never the case. "Don't worry mom, if he upsets you again I'll show him my knuckles of fury!" Eliza bragged, shaking off invisible dirt from her shoulders. Caroline laughed harder, something she always did when she noticed a certain little trait like that pop up in her daughter. "But despite everything, he was someone I really loved," she continued, "and if I had never met Klaus I never would have gotten you."_

"_Everyone always says you're just like me, but sometimes I'll catch a couple of glimpses of him in you. A nice little reminder of sorts that I didn't completely lose him."_

_Eliza smiled at her mother's kind words, but snickered to herself as she realised something. "What is it?" Eliza held up her hands, preparing to move them along to what she did next. "You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why, Santa Klaus is coming, to town!"_

...

"Well this is interesting situation," observed Klaus, as he took in the sight of the people in the living room. "The absentee sister has graced us with her presence, and next to her we have a child."

Eliza froze at Klaus mentioning her, unable to take her eyes away from him. It was so unbelievable, yet here her father was in the same room with her. She'd always wondered what it would be like to meet him, but she had never truly believed it would happen until now. He held an air of danger to him, giving Eliza the impression that he was not the kind of person who you wanted to be angry with you. She had only ever seen a photo of him once, an old black and white picture from way back when. Eyes locking with hers, Klaus shot her a small smile.

"And who might you be sweetheart?"

...

"_Come on Steffy!" "It's no worse than Cinderella, I promise!"_

"_Eliza, I'm not watching Bambi with you!" exclaimed Stefan calmly, seating himself down upon the Salvatore boarding house sofa bedside her. "There is Cinderella, and then there is that." "Fine," skulked Eliza, folding her arms to attempt to look intimidating. She only served to make Stefan chuckle, as the adorable attempt at an angry pout was a far cry from what she was aiming for. "I'll make Silas watch it with me." She threatened half –heartedly, knowing there was a less chance of Silas watching it with her then his doppelgänger._

"_So I hear your mom told you about your dad," Stefan began casually, changing the subject. "You wanna see something?" asked Stefan, piking Eliza's attention. "Yeah, okay. But don't think we're off the subject of Bambi mister!" Eliza attempted to threaten sternly, only to result in looking ridiculous. Stefan chuckles continued, as he rushed upstairs to retrieve the object. However a minute or so later a loud sound resembling tripping over could be heard, plus with Stefan cursing under his breath._

"_Eliza!"_

"_I'm sorry! I just felt like the tripwire needed a comeback!"_

_Stefan reappeared, simply rolling his eyes at how she spent her free time. Eliza noticed that he was clutching a photograph, as he sat down next to her once more. He handed the photo for her to see, watching as she immediately erupted into laughter. "You have funny hair in this," she laughed, causing Stefan to shake his head in mock embarrassment. "That was taken in the 1920's," Stefan explained, pointing to the photo. "and you see that guy next to me? That's your dad."_

_Eliza looked downwards at the photo once more, staring in amazement at the image of her father smiling back at her. Noting her look of wonder, Stefan decided to explain. "Back then me and your dad were best friends, after a rough start we managed to become friends. I'd met him through your aunt Rebekah, who I was seeing." As Stefan had predicted she would, a huge grin began to form on Eliza's face. "You went out with my aunt? Steffy, Steffy, you get all the girls don't you?" she teased, nudging him lightly. Seeing how content she looked with the photo, Stefan nudged her back. "Why don't you hold on to it?"_

"_So can you tell me how you met them?"_

...

"I'm Eliza." She gulped out of sheer shock, still getting over the surprise of seeing him there right in front of her. Elijah and Rebekah eyed the pair warily, watching to see what would occur, but at the same time couldn't help but compare the noticeable similarities between the two. "Niklaus." Elijah breathed, stepping up to greet his brother. "There's a matter that needs to be discussed, it involves young Eliza over here." Elijah explained, nodding to her. "Alright, what is it?" Klaus asked, seemingly unaffected by the news. "Nik, something happened, and..." Rebekah trailed off, not knowing not knowing what to say.

"An unexpected accident of sorts occurred, and believe it or not this is your daughter."

For a few seconds Klaus was silent, staring at the girl as she anxiously awaited his reply. Was there a chance he'd believe them? Would he listen? For a second it seemed as though he would, as a flicker of recognition seemed to ignite within Klaus. "What sort of trick is this?" Eliza's heart sank at his words, knowing already he was unconvinced. Rebekah gave her shoulder a light squeeze, sending her a sympathetic smile. "Niklaus!" "First what happened weeks ago, now this? Have you reached a new low by trying to domesticate me, brother?" Klaus questioned, failing to notice Eliza's heartbroken stare. "Niklaus I wasn't sure if I believed it at first, but from talking with her I can already see she speaks the truth!" Elijah argued, defending her story strongly. Eliza felt a wave of gratitude to Elijah, as he didn't have to try to get him to believe.

"Elijah! I think I'd know if I had a child walking about somewhere!" declared Klaus, raising his voice. "Niklaus that's because magic has brought her to us! She has yet to be born, and she needs to be sheltered for the time being until we can figure out how to return her home!" "Elijah have you ever considered that she may be lying? A rick sent from the witches!" Klaus suggested, the tension mounting even more in the room.

"I'm not lying!"

Eliza shot up from her place next to Rebekah, glaring at the man who dared to suggest she'd lie about something like this. "And how would I know that?" Klaus returned, eyes baring into hers. With a cold glare to rival his own, Eliza reached into the back pocket of her jeans. "If I'm lying and I'm not from the future, then how did I get this?" she asked, holding an object out for him to take. Klaus complied, taking the object from her. It was the picture depicting both he and Stefan in the twenties, both grinning happily at the camera. "Check the back."

Klaus raised an eyebrow at her request, but followed suit. Written on the back was the line of **Klaus and me, 1920.** It was written in Stefan's handwriting, having been added on at a later date. However Klaus was already familiar with it, leaving him completely speechless. "I had that same reaction to uncle Stefan's hair too," Eliza attempted to crack a joke, smiling awkwardly as the three originals gazed at her in utter wonder and shock. Staring at both the picture and Eliza repeatedly, Klaus couldn't believe it. "B-But that's not-" "It is." She informed him bluntly, hoping to make him see. "You were best friends with him," Eliza nodded towards the paper that Klaus was still clutching in his hand, "till you had to escape Chicago because Mikael had found you and Rebekah." She recounted.

"And you met him again in Mystic Falls, but he didn't recognise you because you had compelled him to forget about all that had gone on in Chicago. Gotta say though, you must be really fun to be around if you can make broodypants loosen up." Eliza commented, not realising Klaus was slowly becoming less agitated and more amused at her excited bambing. "Damon Salvadork says he was just born with it, but at least Steffy wasn't born with annoyingitus," she breathed, feeling as though she had let off some steam.

"Don't believe me yet?" Eliza challenged, trying with all her might to level up to his massive amount of intimidation. "How do I know about Elijah's fetish for suits?" she paused for a moment, taking the moment to let out a little giggle at the look of utter mock outrage he shot her. "How do I know Salvadork's nickname for Rebekah is Barbie Klaus? And by the way, according to my Wikipedia Matt Donovan, real guy!" Rebekah frowned, offended slightly. "He called me that?"

Klaus could only simply stare at the girl, her words completely passing though him. He felt as though he was in the presence of another blonde he knew, but no matter how many strange things that could happen, that was one thing that could not. But it was just something he couldn't ignore, as the familiarity of the girl was not just something he could ignore. Klaus bent down to Eliza's level, not able to take his eyes from her. "Eliza, who is your mother?" he asked seriously, causing her to look up at him.

"You know so much about our history, so I'll be upfront and ask it. What is your mother's name?" he breathed, only thoughts of the current situation passing through his mind. Eliza looked to both Elijah and Rebekah, who were also staring at her as they awaited her answer. She sighed tiredly, realising what her mother now meant about having early nights for the next day. She crossed her arms, and stared blankly at him unconvinced that he would listen to her. "You won't believe me," Eliza argued blandly refusing to tell him, "you only listened when I showed you the photo." "No, I promise I'll listen this time!" Klaus insisted, placing a hand gently upon her shoulder. "I understand that your upset with me, and that I don't have the right to ask you this, but who is your mother Eliza?"

"My mom is called Caroline Forbes." She admitted, watching closely as the three of them slowly registered her words. Klaus froze, eyes wide at the name. "What?" he breathed, a revelation to him, yet he found himself not all that surprised. He observed the girl closely, a genuine smile appearing on his face. How had he not seen it straight away? Eliza had the same tendency for talking at fast paced speeds, the same challenging look Caroline would send him when she was annoyed with him, and the same identical smiles that were infectious to the coldest of hearts.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry that I've not been quick to update, but I had a lack of ideas for a bit and I wanted to make this long for you all. Thank you for your patience and the kind reviews you left last chapter! :) Hope you enjoy!**

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Even minutes later after Eliza had revealed she was the daughter of both himself and Caroline, Klaus was still rendered utterly speechless. Eliza had grown bored of him staring at her, returning to her position on the couch as Elijah and Rebekah looked on at the pair as they left the room to give the two of them time to talk. Rolling her eyes at her father, Eliza beckoned for him to join her. "Quit staring!" she exclaimed in a familiar fashion to her mother. "Come and sit." Resisting the urge to laugh at her barking orders bossily at him, Klaus sat down beside her. Klaus sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry I am, this is just so..."

"Hard to believe?"

"I guess you could say that," Klaus agreed, nodding his head as an awkward silence drifted between the pair. It had been the quietist Klaus had ever witnessed Eliza be, the sight slightly odd in his eyes. "So..." Eliza trailed awkwardly, searching for a way to be able to start a conversation between the two. Klaus smiled fondly at Eliza, as her eyes wandered around the room. It was still incredible for him to even conceive the idea that Eliza was _his _and Caroline's. Eliza appeared to have been given everything he loved about Caroline to the dot, yet she also had a unique persona that made her very different at the same time. She was currently twiddling her thumbs, seemingly distracting herself as the silence continued. Turning her head to face him, Eliza sighed.

"You like horses?"

A confused smile danced on the edge of Klaus's lips at her words, prompting him to converse with her. "I'm sorry what?" he asked, wanting to be sure he hadn't misheard her. "Mom says you drew her a horse once, so I figured that as you're supposed to be the most scary guy in the world or whatever, you must like them a lot to break character."

Klaus shook his head to himself, chuckling at the Forbes women's tendency to leave him utterly unresponsive. "Yes I guess you could say that. So I can safely assume you know what I am?" Eliza nodded. "Mom told me everything once I could properly understand it, but it was pretty lucky timing." Klaus frowned at the hiding meaning in her words, easily noticing she wasn't mentioning something to him. "What do you mean?" Eliza suddenly became uncomfortable, refusing to look at him directly in the eye. He'd seen that look on many a person when they were hiding something from him, and he certainly wasn't going to just ignore it. "Eliza-"

"What's this?" she asked, pulling forth a protruding piece of paper from Klaus pocket. She giggled at what was on it, startlingly reminding Klaus of when he had heard that same laugh once before. "Why do you have a advertisement for a fairground?" Eliza smirked, as Klaus snatched it back. "The bloke wouldn't stop hassling me, so I just took one and forgot to throw it away," Klaus scowled to himself, only increasing his daughter's giggles.

"Big bad Klausy likes fairground rides," Eliza teased, nudging her father lightly. A small smile formed on Klaus's face, as despite her laughing at his expense he found her to be rather amusing.

"And no you can't go."

A deep scowl of frustration appeared on her face, as she was convinced that she could. "I could go on roller coasters!" she defended half-heartedly. "Eliza." Klaus shook his head. The two were a picture together, both sitting side by side with identical expressions of annoyance with the other and equal amounts of determination to convince them otherwise on their faces. Eventually both erupted into smiles of disbelief at the other, recognising that neither was going to win the argument. "That's okay, fairs aren't that great any way." Eliza brushed off dramatically, her little mannerisms fascinating Klaus.

Clearly she was feeling nervous, the fact that she was fiddling with her hands was a dead giveaway. She avoided eye contact with him unless she was talking directly to him, and was tapping her foot repeatedly against the couch.

Klaus immediately groaned, as from judging what he had just seen, Eliza had already fixated her attention on to something else. "What's that?" she pointed. Klaus smiled, seeing that she was pointing to his sketchpad he must have forgotten to put away earlier. Staring at her knowingly, Klaus reached forward and placed the sketchpad in his lap.

Seeing she would keep hounding him till she got an answer, Klaus decided to show her the contents inside. He opened the sketchpad up, revealing the first page as he surveyed Eliza's reactions closely. Klaus was watching her warily, as despite the short time they'd known each other, he found himself flooded with a slight bit of nervousness.

He cared what she thought.

The art itself seemed to be an extension of himself, he cared about what this girl thought of him. She wasn't just any child, she was his and Caroline's. It sounded so unbelievable even thinking it, yet the reality was as clear as day.

Eliza was staring in complete awe, with all her jokes aside she was truly impressed. Eliza traced her hand over the crisp paper, smiling to herself as she flipped the pages. Looking up to meet Klaus's eyes, she shot him a genuine smile. "These are amazing!" she exclaimed, pointing to the sketchpad. "Urm, yeah?" Klaus gulped, completely lost for words. She nodded in comfortable silence, admiring the work as she did so. "I-I tried doing some too." She gulped, amazed at herself that she managed to admit this to anyone. Surprised at the revelation, Klaus found a smile forming on his face at her words. "You draw?"

"On and off. Mom says I could have my paintings in the Louve, if I keep at it," recalled Eliza proudly, noticing the odd look of what Eliza recognised as remembrance upon his face. She'd seen it a number of times, but never quite so strongly on this man. "What's is it?" "Oh, it's nothing," Klaus brushed her off, shaking his head. Eliza stared at him in disbelief, cocking an eyebrow his way. Klaus rolled his eyes, finding it unbelievable how knowing she was.

...

"Well?"

"Rebekah, I think two minutes is too short of a time to re-enter!"

Rebekah sighed at her brother's hissing, jumping on to the bed. She drew up a tossed aside book Klaus must have forgotten about, glancing inquiringly at the cover in boredom. She sighed once more, looking up to meet Elijah's eyes. "You cannot tell me you're not the least bit curious about her, and what she means to us in the future. Elijah nodded hesitantly, deeming it necessary to think about his answer. "Admittedly, yes I am rather curious, and as to how we dealt with this situation of-" An ugly scowl appeared in a flash of Rebekah's face, deepening even further at the look Elijah was shooting her. "I'm dreading to find out."

But something made Elijah re-think his words, as he briefly recalled something Eliza had touched upon earlier. _"My life's pretty fine, I mean a lot of kids have a lot less family members then I do." _It was very apparent to the original that she seemed to have hinted that she had very little family outside of her mother and her friends, yet when he had first met her a few hours previously, she had clearly appeared to be shocked. It was as though she had never truly been in contact with him before, and had stared at himself; Rebekah and Niklaus as though they were walking revelations she had yet to discover. Plus, there was the matter of her parentage that troubled him.

How was it possible that she came to be in this world?

Despite the new factual information they had gained concerning Niklaus's reproductive status, Caroline Forbes was still a fully blooded vampire, rendering Eliza's existence utterly impossible. Yet there she was, downstairs chatting with his brother. It was a subject he would definitely bring up in his next meeting with the witch Sophie, as this was something he deemed worthy of investigating considering Eliza herself was not aware of how exactly she came to be in this world. Rebekah's incessant tapping brought him out of his thoughts, as she suddenly got up from where she was seated.

"What do you say to dinner with our niece brother?"

...

"Your angling it wrong."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!" exclaimed Eliza, shaking her head in frustration at Klaus as she placed her hands on her hips in a style disturbingly the same as her mother. Bending down to her level, Klaus smiled in amusement as he held up his brush that was dipped in paint. "Sweetheart I've been painting since the invention of the paintbrush, and your stiil taking art lessons." Klaus compared not unkindly, but jokingly. Eliza glared at him in mock anger, before a smile began to spread across her face as she giggled at the absurdity of their argument. "Okay, but I still think I was right!" she admitted in defeat, as she looked up in admiration of Klaus's painting. "And your surprisingly good." She added as an afterthought quietly, not meaning for Klaus to overhear her but filling him with gratitude and wonder at her comment regardless.

After they had finished talking, Eliza had asked if he could show her one of his paintings. Eventually that had led on to Eliza watching and giving Klaus her own unique critique, as he finished bits and pieces of an unfinished painting. Her opinions on the major factors of his artwork never ceased to make him chuckle, and her bossy attitude that made her the most stubborn child of the few children he had come across, made him reminiscent of her mother. _No_. He shook away any stray thoughts about Caroline, instead re-focusing his attentions upon the waiting eyes of his daughter. She smiled knowingly at him, as though she was withholding something important from him.

"You were deep in thought weren't you mister?"

She tapped her foot expectantly, her eyes moving around the room in a "subtle" way. "Alright! You can have a go!" he sighed, handing over his paintbrush resulting in Eliza jumping up in down in excitement. "Thank you! Thank you!" she cheered happily in celebration, giggling as she rushed over and turned over to a clean piece of paper. God. He barely even knew this girl, and already she had charmed her way into his heart with her infectious personality. Klaus watched in silent fascination, as Eliza began to trace a rectangular figure across the paper. Surprisingly enough she appeared to know what she was doing, as she began to darken the areas of what he assumed to be a house or a shape.

Unfortunately a loud clash distracted Klaus, with several curse words ensuing. Eliza failed to hide a small giggle as she looked away from him, leading him to believe she was far from hard of hearing. The noises seemed to originate from the kitchen which was located in a room towards the back of the house, so in order to discover what was going on, Klaus went to investigate. "Stay here." Klaus ordered to Eliza, not seeming to bother her as she simply continued with her task. With a sigh at his siblings subtlety, Klaus headed out of the room and into the kitchen. As he approached, he was greeted with yet more noises, as he could make out the hushed argumentative voices. Eventually he made it into the kitchen, and was left completely wordless at the sight that greeted him.

And what a sight it was.

Rebekah was stood over the kitchen counter, glaring menacingly at the shattered remains of a bowl she must have dropped which caused the noise. The kitchen surface was covered completely in flour, some of which had travelled not only to Rebekah's black t-shirt, but also to her hair. Elijah was perched carefully next to her, staring in confusion at a cookbook that he was holding in front of him. Elijah was frowning at the words across the page, failing to realise what seemed like a jumbled mess to him meant. Some stray flour had also made its way on to his suit, with a large array of syrups clinging to the substance.

Klaus failed to hold in a chuckle at his brother and sister, alerting the pair to his presence in the room. Rebekah simply rolled her eyes at Klaus, before returning her attentions to a second bowl of a mystery substance which smelled suspiciously sweet. Elijah on the other hand froze immediately, looking close to blushing as he placed down the cookbook. "I'm not sure if I want to know," Klaus began, smirking at both Elijah and Rebekah, "but I'm afraid if I don't I'll miss out on something truly worth it to mock you with." "Rebekah suggested that we prepare a dinner for our niece," Elijah explained, his continued use of the word niece not going unnoticed by Klaus, "and I thought it a good idea at first, considering that the girl doesn't appear to have eaten all day."

Rebekah's head suddenly snapped up as she registered Elijah's words, a glare slowly forming in her eyes. "What do you mean, _**at first**_?" she hissed with an intimidating stance, not realising she was waving her spoon in time with how she emphasised her words. Elijah opened his mouth to reply, but luckily he was saved by high-pitched laughter that was originating from behind the half-closed door. Seemingly understanding that as the originals had fallen silent and that her game was up, Eliza scuttled back into the living room despite the fact the trio could every little movement she made when they were not distracted by their arguments.

Klaus smirked to himself, already noting her stubborn persistence in having the last word or action in a situation. He couldn't be quite sure whose genes the trait originated from, as one minute he was sure he was staring at the younger version of Caroline, and the next he was seeing a younger female version of himself. It didn't take any effort to be around her; no pressures, no secret agendas, and unconditional trust. It wasn't a situation he would ever had imagined himself in, but Klaus found himself rather eager to learn all about the girl who had come to find him. Blinking himself out of his thoughts, Klaus headed back into the living room to see Eliza. Inside it was clear she had only just sat back down on her stool once more, panting a little from her little run from the kitchen.

Klaus struggled to contain himself as she looked around the room, checking to see if he was already there. Suddenly her eyes locked with his, going wide and red-faced when she saw his reaction. She pouted, folding her arms to her chest. "It's impossible to sit here, while you and the others are all having fun in there!" she suddenly exploded, jumping down from the stool so she could stand in front of him.

"I don't think that could be counted as fun, sweetheart."

"Now don't get me wrong, I like art as much as the next art junkie, but the smell of lead and paper kinda gets tiring after a while," Eliza ranted whilst choosing to ignore Klaus's comment about his siblings completely, only resulting in further surprising Klaus with her words. "You were talking about your niece," Eliza paused, turning her head from left to right most likely to see if Rebekah and Elijah had popped up also, "which of course always pikes my interest, I do it all the time when uncle Stefan thinks I've gone to bed, that way I can see what he's going to get me for Christmas." Klaus smirked at the mention of his old friend's name, finding himself gleeful at the prospect that Stefan had never been able to truly shake him off. "Admittedly I could have been a bit more enthusiastic, when he got me that doll," she shrugged, sighing over dramatically. "What on earth are you babbling about?" Klaus laughed, sure he was about to enjoy this story as he bent down to hear Eliza better.

"Okay, well it was back in October-"

"_Pleeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase?"_

"_No."_

"_Silas said I could watch it!"_

"_You also said that Silas was the one that poured all my shampoo into the toilet last week, despite the fact he wasn't even in town at the time."_

"_It's a conspiracy!" declared Eliza dramatically, pointing her finger at Stefan to emphasise her point._

"_Nope! You just like using him for your excuse!" Stefan shot back bluntly in a mocking dramatic fashion similar to the child's, tucking her into bed as he finished. "But I want to watch Horrid Henry!" Eliza whined, pouting as she did so. Stefan arched an eye brow at her, prompting her to pull out her bottom lip even further._

"_Do not give me the bottom lip Eliza."_

_Pout._

"_Eliza!"_

_Pout._

"_That show promotes danger, bad behaviour and pranks!" _

"_My three favourite things!"_

"_Hey!" Stefan realised. "I thought I was one of your favourite things!" Stefan said, seating himself back down on Eliza bed in the guest room of the Salvatore boarding house. "Oh don't worry Steffy poo!" Eliza brushed him off patronisingly, patting him on the shoulder. "You and mommy made it into the top ten," she joked, settling down against her pillow. "And why did mommy leave me here?" she questioned, "I heard something about reunions and friends when she was on the phone, but Fiona kept distracting me when she was prattling-"_

"_Eliza!"_

"_Sorry- Having an irritating conversation with herself, about how her mommy is better than mine. But does your mommy kick a- bottom? Is she the nicest vampire you'll ever meet? Noooooooooo!" she dragged out, shaking her head to herself. "And Alannah kept going on and on about Salvadork so much, I had to resist the urge to gag by forcing myself to watch Fiona's Swan river movie she kept trying to get me to watch."_

"_It's a college reunion she's gone to."_

_Stefan smiled gratefully at Eliza, who he considered as not only a child of his but also a rather small friend, as strange as it sounded. He had realised a while ago that ever since she had been told the story of how Elena had left him for Damon, she had jumped to her godfather's defence in her own special way by deliberately getting Elena's name wrong. He had gotten over it a long time ago, but it still hurt a little when he thought of the two together._

"_First off, it's Swan Lake, not Swan River," Stefan listed, deciding not to correct her on Damon's name, as it was a habit she had never failed to break for as long as he could remember. "and it's Elena not Alannnah."_

"_Yep, Lena, got it uncle Stef!"_

"_No Elena!"_

"_I got it! Lara it is!"_

_Chuckling at her insistence, Stefan sighed in defeat. "Alright, night Eliza." He called, getting up from her bed, and turning the bedside table light off as he headed out the room. "Night Uncle Stefan!"_

_One hour later..._

_Urgh!_

_Her throat felt so dry! The water uncle Stefan had given her was all gone, having been drained within the first twenty minutes of her uncle's departure from the room. Was it something that she could try to ignore? Nope. Eliza sat up from her bed, switching on the bedside lap in order to be able to properly identify her surroundings. Eliza pulled off the covers, dropping down to the wooden floor. Reaching out, she grabbed her glass from the bedside table and headed carefully out of her room._

_It had always been difficult for her to navigate her way through the vastly sized house that her uncle owned, but luckily Eliza found her way out from the ocean of rooms, and moved quietly down the stairs. She had no idea how to find the bathroom without the direction of Stefan, so in order to prove she wasn't a baby, she figured she would attempt to fill up her glass from the downstairs sink._

_As she drew closer to the kitchen, she could make out the sound of Stefan's urgent voice. Hiding behind the door just in case, Eliza listened in. "-Caroline please! Yeah I know it's the college reunion, but what am I supposed to get her for a present?" Eliza perked up considerably more at the mention of presents, as they were one of her favourite things. "Oh I don't know, get her one of those cute patchwork dolls!" Caroline suggested over the phone, amusing Eliza at how annoyed she sounded at being called. _

"_What colour?"_

"_I don't know! Pink?"_

_Eliza visibly grimaced at the colour, silently shaking her head at her mother's poor choice in colour. However before she could properly realise, Stefan ended the phone call. Eliza peeked inside the kitchen, seeing he was sat at the table writing in his diary. Just as she told Cece, her uncle brooded so much, he needed his diary to pour some of it into. Salvadork had once told her that had been the cause of the numerous wrinkles of Stefan's forehead, but considering the source she wasn't at liberty to believe him._

_Eliza counted in her head, before deciding that an appropriate amount of time had passed since Stefan had put down the phone. Eliza strolled in casually, holding her glass up expectantly from her spot close to Stefan's chair. Stefan quickly noticed her emerging figure, staring down at where she was stood._

"_You want water?"_

"_What gave me away?"_

_..._

_That same year, Christmas day._

"_Come on!"_

"_No you come on!"_

"_Kathy!"_

"_Lizzie!"_

"_Don't you Lizzie me!"_

_As most of the group were helping to prepare for dinner at Caroline's insistence or were hiding upstairs from her, currently this was the perfect moment for the two partners in crime that were Eliza Forbes and Katherine Pierce. Although the pair had more than a little age gap and her parents had less then friendly history with Katherine, ironically enough they got on rather well. When the pair clashed it was in a similar fashion to wildfire, but ironically enough Eliza considered the two of them to be "secret best friends."_

_Currently the pair were about to embark on yet another adventure, by taking a small peek at their Christmas presents. But really when aunt Kathy said small peek, she knew it really meant opening them all. "Word of warning, don't touch anything from Salvadork, I overheard him telling uncle Kol to put cole in your presents. Okay now that I think about it, don't touch anything from uncle Kol either letting him get away with ironic jokes is not what we want." Eliza warned, seating herself next to Katherine in front of the Christmas tree where the presents were located. "Got it." Katherine acknowledged, eyes meeting with Eliza's. "Which one shall we go for first this year?"_

"_Actually, can I give you mine?" Eliza requested politely, eyes baring into Katherine's. "Sure," Katherine agreed, frowning as she was handed the rather largely sized present. It was clear Eliza had been the one to wrap it, the unfolded ends and the unmistakable visible parts of what looked to be a box giving her away. And also the tag was addressed in the child's neat scrawl, and was declared to be only from said child. Eyeing Eliza warily, Katherine pulled the box free. She pulled the box of the lid off, eyes wide and completely stunned and the contents inside. Jaw agape, Katherine lifted up both pairs of the boots she had been yearning for after a shopping trip with the girl beside her._

"_Do you like them?" Eliza asked eagerly, as she took in Katherine's reaction. "Like them? I'll never take them off my feet!" declared Katherine with a grin, wrapping her arm around Eliza. "Thanks Lizzie." Eliza simply rolled her eyes, as no matter how tiresome the nickname was, Katherine was equally as stubborn as her, so as long as she called her Kathey, she would call her Lizzie. "You're welcome!" she replied perkily, happy with her result. As much as she loved her mother, Caroline had never taken her shopping yet, so when Katherine declared "what vampire Barbie doesn't know won't hurt her", Eliza had been eager to follow Katherine on her trip to the stores. On the way back however, Katherine had been looking at some expensive boots. But they had been in such a flurry to return home before Caroline did, Katherine did not buy them. And when she had found the time to return to the store, much to her disappointment she found they had sold out and were not stocking any more. As human and trivial as it sounded, she did like to look her best._

"_Eliza not that I'm not grateful or anything, but how the hell did you get a hold of $500 dollar boots?"_

_There was no chance in hell Caroline would agree to something like this, and no matter how much she pouted at Stefan, he would never agree to help her either._

"_Let's just say I called in a favour."_

"_You begged Tyler didn't you?"_

"_Got so annoyed by my pleases, he gave up after two minutes."_

_Chuckling to herself, Katherine picked up a random present and handed it to Eliza. Glancing at the tag, she smiled thoughtfully as she saw who it was from. "It says it's from uncle Stefan." Eliza giggled, secretly wondering if the present was the patchwork doll that her mother and uncle has been discussing. However as she began to unwrap the present, Stefan entered the room._

"_Hey, I just-" Stefan froze along with Katherine and Eliza as he caught sight of the pair, eyes going wide in realization. But before he could think up a single word to leave his lips, Eliza broke the silence in a graceful and subtle manner._

"_Tut tut uncle Stef," she shook her head, as though he was a disobeying child, "mommy said to get me the doll with the pink dress, not the baby blue." Stefan gaped at Eliza's comment, whilst Katherine simply smirked, as she knew some fun was about to commence._

"_You did hear me that night!"_

"_Thank you though, I think the baby blue brings Stephanie's eyes out more than the pink would."_

"_Stephanie?" Katherine inquired._

"_In honour of dear uncle Stef of course."_

-"and then we ate all the pudding, which resulted in a cracker contest between me and mommy." Eliza finished, breathlessly smiling.

"You are friends with a vampire?"

"Yes." Eliza nodded, having referred to Katherine as "my vampire friend", as she was aware that for whatever reason she and her father did not get on.

"And we interact with each other in the future?"

Eliza's silence confirmed his dreaded suspicions, as whenever she rarely spoke of her own time period she never mentioned him. "Eliza where am I? What exactly happened to me in the future?" Unfortunately Eliza was not given the chance to answer, as an incessant pattern of knocking began upon the door. Growling at being interrupted with his time with her, Klaus moved past to the door. Eliza laughed, the fact that her father could growl amusing her to no end. She could clearly see some dog jokes making a guest appearance, brightening her up considerably. Flinging the door open, Klaus frowned at the sight of Marcel leering at his front door. But what surprised him most, was that _his_ daughter knew him. "Marcy!" she cried, waving rapidly at him.

Curious and above all annoyed, a single word left Klaus's lips reluctantly, knowing if he didn't do it, Elijah would.

"Dinner?"

...

An awkward silence filled the air of the dinner table, with the five occupants of the table silent and wary of their extra occupant. Klaus was annoyed; Rebekah was annoyed at Klaus, Elijah was wary of the enemy they were housing, and Eliza wanted to know why her uncle Elijah found Marcel's jacket so interesting. She figured it was a nice colour and everything, but jackets like that did not suit suit wearing men such as her uncle. Speaking of suits, Eliza had the urge to reassure Elijah that he shouldn't switch his outfit style so rapidly. To each his own, but Marcy's choice in jackets just didn't sit with her.

Attempting to break the silence, Elijah focused his attentions upon Eliza. "So tell me Eliza," Elijah began, picking a conversation starter at random, "what might your full name be?" he began, inwardly cringing at the way it sounded and the looks the others were shooting him.

"It's Eliza Forbes, silly."

"I meant your full name."

...

"You'll call me by my birth name! Ka-My vampire friend says you do it to her!"

Smiling at her adorable blush when she almost revealed Katherine's name, Elijah pressed on futher. "And who might you're friend be?" Not wanting to add more tension to the room with her "blabbermouth", Eliza sighed.

"Ah hem." She coughed, reluctantly beginning the way her mother had recounted to it. "I Elizabeth Erica Forbes was born to Caroline Celia Forbes on the 15th of November 2014," Eliza recounted, staring at the wide eyed faces of those around her. "Why what month is it? Look I'm sorry I was being over dramatic, but mommy always says it's good to keep people fully informed." Eliza explained in a panic without truly understanding what she was saying. She was worried she had upset them somehow, and felt herself start to panic as the self-doubt that plagued her began to tell her it was her. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was just trying to make you laugh!" she cried, feeling the tears begin to form in her eyes.

"Lijah?"

"Bekah?"

Her eyes landed on Klaus's, as she was a little unsure of what to call him at that moment. Taking note of her incoming tears, Klaus decided to speak. "I apologize sweetheart, it's not you, it's just-" he trailed off, looking almost as though he was frustrated that he couldn't gie her a straight answer.

"What?"

"It means your mother will become pregnant in four months time, yet I've not spoken to her in six weeks."

* * *

**Next chapter: Part 2 of the dinner party and a visit!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry I've taken so long guys, but I hope you enjoy! Thank you for all the lovely comments last chapter! :) BTW I have a poll up, and if any of you are interested in me doing a prequel to this story feel free to cast your vote!**

* * *

"You haven't seen her in six weeks?" Eliza frowned thoughtfully to herself, not upset like the others thought she would be, but confused. "So my mom's already done graduation, but how is it I was-" Realising what she was about to implicate Eliza froze, turning bright red. Unfortunately Klaus's eyes continued to bare into hers, so she was forced to look up. "Mom and my vampire friend had to give me "the talk" after an eavesdropping session of mine went wrong," she blushed, eyes trailing downwards to her uneaten food. A more awkward silence filled the room, with Marcel the one to break it with the clearing of his throat. "So Klaus, it was awfully kind of you to invite me to join you," Marcel remarked, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "were you hoping to catch up?"

"Well we haven't talked much since I first arrived, perhaps were should." Klaus shot back, all too aware of Eliza watching the two of them keenly. "Hmph." Marcel smirked. "You know, I met up with the brave bartender again," Marcel informed Klaus, "she's quite the lady." While her brother was watching the two of them battle it out, Rebekah shot Eliza a look of pure boredom, causing both to have to hide their laughter._ Why are they talking about a bartender?_ Eliza's look read, eyes gesturing to the men. _Beats me._ Rebekah shrugged with a careless smile, poking her fork into her food. Gathering up her courage Eliza spoke up, interrupting whatever subject they had moved on to.

"Who's the "brave bartender?" Eliza air quoted, eyes baring into Marcel's with curiosity. "Eliza!" Elijah scolded, simply causing Eliza to roll her eyes at him. "Just this woman I met, called Camille. Either brave or stupid for daring to walk the streets of New Orleans at night, I decided on brave," Marcel explained, leaving out the finer details of why New Orleans was so dangerous. "C-a-m-i-l-l-e." Eliza tested slowly, as though it was a foreign taste on her tongue. "Nice name, but why's it so dangerous?"

"There's lot of vampires around here kid, not all are as charming as me, but I keep them in line," Marcel replied, taking note of the snort originating from Klaus. "Tough job bro," Eliza nodded in fake understanding, staring in disgust at the food on her plate. "Eliza love, eat your vedgies," Klaus joked, earning himself a glare from Rebekah from when he had previously used the line.

"Na."

"What?"

"I'm not hungry anymore."

"I don't think two pieces of broccoli and a piece of bread count as a meal."

"I don't like carrots."

"Why not?"

"They're so squishy!"

Marcel laughed as Klaus growled to himself at Eliza's stubbornness, Eliza glaring back as she folded her arms. "Eliza, you're aunt has slaved away in the kitchen for quite some time just to prepare this meal-" Elijah began.

"No she didn't, half of this is pre-cooked food."

Temporarily forgetting her annoyance with her, Klaus burst out laughing whilst ignoring the sharp glare his sister threw his way. "The radishes are nice though," Eliza complimented to Rebekah, easing her bad mood slightly with the comment. With an unexpected start, Eliza jumped up perkily in her seat, bouncing up and down in excitement at something she had realised. "Ou! Ou!" She cried. The three vampires and hybrid stared at the girl with odd looks, confused at her odd behaviour. "What on earth are you doing?" Klaus stared, wondering what Rebekah had done to the food that she had eaten. "Kid I don't think her foods that exciting," Marcel joked, gulping at the pure look of ice Rebekah threw him for a split second. "If graduation's already done, that means you went on that road trip with uncle Matt!" Eliza squealed, jumping up and down excitedly. "That means **you** can tell me what happened at the Northern Lights!"

Rebekah's eyes went wide in horror, as she turned bright red at the mention of the Northern Lights. "Yes Rebekah, you can tell her what happened at the Northern Lights," Klaus repeated, hinting at her. Ignoring Klaus altogether, Rebekah turned to Eliza. "How the hell do you know about that?" she demanded in embarrassment, not wanting to actually have to tell her about the event. "Well whenever I wanted to ask something about you, uncle Matt would tell me all of these stories about when you two went on the road trip," Eliza recounted, hoping she would tell her, "except whenever someone brings up the Northern Lights, it's the only thing he refuses to tell anyone about. Uncle Matt's still holds the record of being able to withstand the power of my pleases, he'll just say it was "one of the few great nights of my life." Eliza air quoted, badly impersonating Matt.

"He said that?" Rebekah softened, the revelation surprising her to her very core. Eliza nodded seriously, not used to seeing her aunt look so... human in her expressions. "If it helps any, he always gets this goofy smile on his face whenever he talks about it," Eliza added. Before anyone could add anything else, Eliza turned to Marcel. "So tell me Marcy, what are your intentions with this Cammy?" Marcel shook his head at her forwardness, choosing to be just as blunt. "A date or two maybe." He fired.

"She blonde?" she whispered along with Marcel, as though they were the only two people in the room. "Why do you ask?" he replied, unsure of what she meant.

"Why do _**you**_ ask?"

"Because asking what a person's hair colour is, is kinda odd in my books."

"..."

"So why do you ask?"

"I dunno. Just making conversation."

"For goodness sakes we can hear you!" Klaus snapped, causing the conversation to cease. "The illusion of privacy is what makes people so talkative with me!" Eliza defended, only serving to confuse the three originals even more. "So, any plans for the future?" Eliza returned to Marcel, now speaking normally. "Hold your horses kid!" urged Marcel. "It's not like I'm going to marry her or anything." "Oh." Eliza nodded in understanding. "Well that's good then." Eliza began her act, wondering what the others reactions would be.

"And why's that?"

"Because your mine Marcy!" declared Eliza perkily, amusing but leaving Marcel unable to figure out if she was truly joking or not. However as soon as the words left the child's lips, it was as though a domino effect had occurred at the dinner table. Rebekah snorted in amusement, Elijah eyes became thunderous, whilst it took Klaus a few more seconds to register the comment before he spat his drink out sharply.

"I'm planning a June wedding," Eliza joked, getting down from her seat. "Where are you going?" Klaus frowned, curious to know why she looked so eager to go at that point after her last joke, or at least he hoped that was. "I'm done!" she explained, picking up her empty plate to display, and for him to inspect. "Alright." Klaus nodded warily, watching as she disappeared into the living room once more. Something didn't sit right with him, as she had given in way too easily about the vegetable argument. It seemed so stupid and pointless, but there was no chance she had just ate them without a word. He'd seen that look. He had practically invented that look! She had wanted to escape the crime of something, and he was going to find out what.

...

Thankfully for Klaus the dinner soon ended, as he quickly shooed Marcel out the door. But just as the door was closed and he was about to turn round to face Rebekah and Elijah's comments, his phone began to ring. At first he was tempted to ignore it, but with Rebekah and Elijah promptly deciding to stare at it, he picked it up. Nodding and grumbling a couple of times, Klaus sighed as he finished the conversation. "What is it?" "Who was it?" Klaus sighed once more tiredly, the day's unexpected events seeming to stretch further and further. "That was a witch I contacted two days ago, she had business I can't ignore and I must go see her now." Klaus explained, awaiting the inevitable disapproving lecture from Elijah. "Niklaus I don't believe running off half cocked to a witch is the wisest of decisions. And let's not forget the responsibilities you have here." Elijah argued.

"I'm well aware of that thank you!" Klaus snapped angrily. "Do you honestly think I want to leave her? With everything that's happened? Of course not, but it's important that I go, and if I don't she'll probably disappear for good." He explained, frustrated as he was wasting time just explaining the situation to them. "Have you given any thought to how this will affect her?" Elijah argued back. "What is she going to think when you just disappear with no warning?"

"Where are you going?"

Klaus mentally cursed himself, the fact that she was only in the other room slipping his mind entirely. Knowing he'd have to explain the best he could, Klaus moved forwards to kneel in front of her. "It's-" Klaus struggled to find the right words, as Eliza stared at him worriedly. "Big bad hybrid business?" Eliza guessed knowingly with a serious nod, recognising the look she had seen numerous times on her mother's face whenever she had had to go to sort out some sort of supernatural business. "I guess you could say that, yes." Klaus smiled, not sure how he was going to explain this to her. "Is it important?"

"Yes." Elijah arched an eyebrow in his direction. "Well to me it is."

"Then I give you permission to go!"

Klaus's eyes widened at her words as did his siblings, surprised at how quick she was to agree to let him go. "Y-Your okay with me going?" he checked, unsure if he had heard correctly. "It's fine! I'm not six anymore, and I don't need a babysitter!" Eliza declared, folding her arms in declaration. Klaus shot her a look of utter disbelief. "Okay maybe someone to mind me while I hold down the fort here, it'll be exhausting!" exaggerated Eliza, both father and daughter nodding at her comment. Klaus chuckled, before turning his head around. His eyes fell upon Elijah, a disgruntled grunt erupting from him. "And you will be gone for how long?" Elijah inquired, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Klaus.

"Probably all night."

Eliza struggled to keep in a giggle at the sight of her uncle uncharacteristically glaring, rolling his eyes at Klaus's attempt to ask him to watch over Eliza. "Fine." Both brothers turned their gazes to the ignorant Rebekah, who's eyes and attention had been focused on the angled shape of her nails. She looked up at the eerie feeling of being watched, glancing inquiringly at their glances. Suddenly it dawned on her, leaving her filled with unrestricted horror.

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Rebekah-"

"I have a hotel reservation, and as endearing as your child is Nik, I do not owe you anything!"

As the two continued to argue, Eliza turned to Elijah and tugged his hand. Elijah looked down, wondering what she had to say to him that made her look like she was about to ask a simple normal question.

"How do you like your cartoons?"

...

"Garbage!"

"Utter trash!"

"Oh really Dora? Oh really? You think you can find a diamond, when turning around to spot a fox is just too much for you?" Eliza argued to the happy chatter of Dora the Explorer on the television screen, as Elijah looked on from his seat beside her with his eyes wide in surprise. After flicking through the channels relentlessly for about an hour after Rebekah and Klaus had left, Elijah had grown tired of her irritating activity and snatched the remote from her, quickly settling on a children's channel of his choice. Despite his "terrible" choice as Eliza had worded it, she had opted to offer her rather amusing critique of the show.

"Come on Dora! Supposed Explorer! Nobody cares what the colours of the ladders are!"

Elijah rubbed his head tiredly, watching as she shook her head in annoyance at the screen. "Some explorer," Eliza scoffed, openly displaying her prominent dislike of the character as she turned to Elijah. "Why on earth are you so bothered by this?" Elijah inquired, his hand gesturing to the screen. Eliza sighed tiredly from her ranting at the television, turning to her uncle to answer his question. "It's simple really."

"And what would it be?"

"Dora's an idiot."

A smirk began to form on Elijah's mouth, as the girl's antics could never cease to tire him. "You do realize this girl is a fictional character?" he emphasised, watching as her face morphed to an even more sullen appearance. "The pros and cons of Dora are a mile high 'Lijah!" Eliza replied, displaying with her hand the height as she spoke. Elijah reached out to grab her hand, and lowered it considerably to the correct height she was referring to. "Show off." She joked, putting her hand down.

Figuring now was as good as a time as any, Elijah shifted forward. "Elizabeth when you spoke of your family earlier today, you seemed to imply that you had very little." He began, observing her closely as her face shifted into a more guarded appearance then it was before. She remained silent in retaliation, refusing to reveal anymore to him.

"Elizabeth-"

"Alright! Alright!"

"Today, was the first time I had ever met any of you. For whatever reason you don't seem to be around, and from the sounds of things dad doesn't seem to know about me at all! I know he did something to make mom angry, I just can't figure out what!" Eliza admitted, openly sharing the source of much of her frustration as a silence passed between them.

"It sounds like him."

"I'd have to agree with you."

Eliza bounced in her seat as an awkward silence passed between uncle and niece, Eliza's eyes darting back and forth to Elijah and the floor relentlessly. Elijah arched an eyebrow in her direction, causing her to shrug cheerfully.

"Eliza?"

"Hmph?"

"How is it you seem to know so much about our lives, yet you've never laid eyes upon a single other member of our family until today?"

Eliza stared in shock, feeling grateful at his use of the word "our" in his question. She quickly snapped out of it, clearing her head for a second. "There's a few things actually." "Really?" he remarked.

"Well to name a few; there were yearbooks, photos, diaries, yadayadayada..." she trailed, hoping he would catch her point. "My mom has a news clipping of you at a tea party from a years ago," Eliza pulled a face at the word, causing Elijah to chuckle in remembrance, "A certain someone loves to brag to me that he, "kicked all of the originals asses." Eliza air quoted.

"Damon?"

"Yeah. Plus there was Uncle Sila-"

However Elijah's attention had already drifted to the opened door of the dining room, where a strange sight he had not spotted previously greeted him. "I'll be two seconds." Elijah interrupted, getting up from his seat. He swiftly entered the room where they had dined not too long ago, and lifted up the cushion that belonged to the empty chair next to the seat where Eliza had sat. Below the cushion was the rest of her food, he guessed Eliza had somehow managed to dump the food when no one was looking. Rolling his eyes at the evident feature of hers and who she had clearly got it from, Elijah headed back into the living room. Eliza whistled innocently, tapping her foot against the couch. However before he could even open his mouth to scold her, oddly enough the doorbell rang.

"_**I'LL GET IT**_!" Eliza practically screeched, racing to the front door as fast as her legs could carry her.

Elijah followed suit, arriving in the doorway just as she opened the door. But it wasn't the person that stood behind the door, that surprised him the most.

"Kathy!" Eliza squealed, enveloping Katherine's legs in a tight hug.

It was that Eliza knew her.

...

Seconds after she hugged Katherine's legs, Eliza pulled back immediately as she realized. This version of her aunt didn't even know her. Plus judging by the look of complete terror on her face, she was certain this was the last thing she needed right now. Katherine shot her a look of surprise, lasting for only a second before Elijah spoke up and she remembered why she was there. "Elijah." She nodded, gulping as he took in her appearance.

Eliza was well aware of their history from secret whispers and the sad looks Kathy would get whenever someone mentioned him, but it was certainly another thing to witness it for herself. She had never seen Elijah look so lost for words, and Kathy... Well, she was pretty different around Elijah from what she could tell.

"Katerina." He breathed.

_He totally did it!_

He stared at her for a while, as though he was listening intently to a composition of music. But before Eliza could blink, she watched as it slowly dawned on him what had happened to Katherine. "Your-"

"Human? You betcha!"

Eliza hand flew to her mouth almost immediately as she realized her second mistake, gulping at the wide eyed looks of Elijah and Katherine. "How did you know all that?" Katherine gaped inquisitively, turning to a silent Elijah in questioning. Eliza opened and closed her mouth a few times, unsure of what to say before settling on the first thing that came to mind. "I ...thought you were my pet parrot. Kathy." Eliza trailed slowly, the idea randomly piecing together.

"You have a pet parrot. Called Kathy?" she queried.

"Yes."

"And you have absolutely no idea what happened to me?"

"No! Course not. You didn't get the cure because-"

Eliza sank down as soon as she slipped up, glancing upwards to face Katherine. She shot her a sheepish smile, accepting defeat. "You're good." She acknowledged, "and you two best have a chit chat." Eliza perked up disturbingly quickly in the blink of an eye, grabbing a hold of a single hand from both Elijah and Katherine and dragging them in the direction of the living room. The two vampires allowed her to do so, watching as she sped straight past them and into the adjoined entryway to the kitchen. Noticing that the both of them were staring at her, Eliza turned around to make a fidgeting gesture with her hands for them to talk before closing the kitchen door in a flurry.

"So, I'll go ahead and say I've missed a lot?"

...

Elijah had listened wordlessly for over an hour as Katherine explained how she had come to be in New Orleans, and that Elena Gilbert had forced the cure upon her. She had not anywhere to go, and from the list of enemies she had gathered over the years Elijah was astounded she had not been attacked yet. But here she was, putting herself in the line of fire when she was in such a vulnerable position. He'd also made a note to tell her about Eliza, as despite what his brother thought he trusted and valued Katherine's opinion. And from what he had gathered from just watching, it was more than clear that Eliza trusted her.

"So she's..." Elijah nodded, watching as her brows plucked up. "Well that's a new one..." Katherine trailed, wrinkling her nose as she thought to herself for a second. "Does she know about-" Katherine gestured. "No." Elijah confirmed, lowering his voice.

"It's not something that we've had time to discuss, and she doesn't seem to know about it." Elijah confided. "It seems as though either Miss Forbes never discovered it, or she eventually does in time and does not see it fit to tell her." Katherine pulled a face closely resembling that of disgust, grimacing to herself. "Well considering who's involved I can see why." Katherine looked up, noticing he was shooting her a look of disapproval. "Oh don't give me that look, even you know she's got about as much class as a trailer park whore. Well now that I think about it..."

"Katerina." Elijah warned.

"What? Devil child or no, I'd sooner bow down to Eliza who I've known for about two minutes." Katherine ranted without restriction, watching closely as Elijah smirked to himself. "What?" Elijah chuckled, scraping his hand through his hair tiredly as he thought of the ongoing events that were occurring all around him. "I believe I should introduce you to the meaning of tact, have you ever heard of such a word?" Katherine rolled her eyes, sinking into her seat as she noted how he was completely avoiding the fact that she was human. Did he not care? Did he care? The man was a freaking enigma, with one thing meaning something completely different when it came to Elijah. Seeing that they wouldn't be getting anywhere tonight, Katherine sat up before turning her head towards the kitchen door.

"You wanna come in Lizzie?"

Eliza re-opened the door, glowering at Katherine's smirking face. "It's E-l-i-z-a Kathy!" she spat, re-entering the living room and taking her seat next to Katherine. "_**Kathy**_," emphasised Eliza, as Elijah sat beside Eliza to observe the pair, "how do you feel about Dora?"

"Stupid."

"I told you!" announced Eliza, nodding at Elijah triumphaly.

"I never denied it."

"But I could see it in your eyes! It's that same one Steffy gets, whenever I ask him if I can watch Horrid Henry!" Eliza accused, tapping Elijah harmlessly on the front of his suit jacket. Suddenly Katherine burst into uncontrollable laughter, covering her hand over her mouth as she continued. "What?" Katherine grinned at Eliza, flashing her pearly whites as she did so. "He lets you call him "_Steffy_?" Katherine airquoted, finding the nickname truly golden. "Yeah." Eliza shrugged, with Elijah watching silently in fascination as the nature of the vampire and little mouth on legs changed in the blink of an eye.

...

"No!"

"Aren't you supposed to love these? You're a girl!"

"She's a little more than that."

"Cheers guv-nuh!"

Eliza stood arms folded in front of the pleading eyes of Elijah and the agitated ones of Katherine, who'd decided to help Elijah babysit her much to her joy. Except she was beginning to regret her decision, as the double team had been pestering her for the past hour. It was a sin against nature! What they were asking her to do was the impossible, a feat not even she could master. They were asking too much! It was just too much!

"Why can't you just take a bath?" Katherine scowled.

"Because I'm scruffy, and that's how I like it!" Eliza argued.

"Well I'm sure you eventually have to have one." Elijah attempted to point out fairly, earning himself yet another pout from Eliza. "Please!" Katherine and Elijah remained unmoving, causing Eliza to mischievously smile knowingly. "Pleaaaaaaaaaaase!"

**12 minutes later**

"Good god, I felt like I was back in mine and Niklaus's childhood."

"You're telling me. I had five siblings growing up, and none could compare to that little terror."

"Said terror is right next to you and waiting _**Kathy**_!"

Katherine spared a glance at Elijah, finding the entire situation rather strange. Once they had persuaded Eliza to go to bed without any arguments and a deal, the pair had assumed she would just forget about it quickly. But they were soon to learn that the little girl had the memory of a hawk, and was already waiting in her temporary bedroom in her pyjamas (the clothes that she was already wearing.)

"Please read it!"

"Why? And how the hell did you get this anyway?"

"Lie is my middle name. Actually it's in my first name too!"

...

"You're not going to say are you?"

"No."

Elijah watched as Eliza's face fell in disappointment, the sadness evident in her face. "Why is it so important to you?" he queried, seating himself upon the bed. "Well mom would, well you know." Eliza pointed to the book she held tightly to her chest, holding on as though it was just about the most precious object she had come across. Elijah caught eyes with Katherine, nodding to her as they both gave in and sat by either side of her on the bed. "Lijah?" Eliza turned, appearing humour free and completely serious. "Will I be able to go back? You know, home?" Elijah smiled kindly at her and the use of her affectionate nickname, placing comforting hand upon her tiny shoulder. "I know my brother, and I know he would be willing to help you. I think he's taken quite a liking to you."

Eliza's eyes went wide with emotion, an unsure but happy smile appearing on her face. "You really think he likes me?" How could someone's defences not crumble, when someone as completely innocent as her asked such a question? He'd forgotten such a thing had even existed, yet here it was staring up at him. "Yes." He replied shortly. Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Eliza turned to Katherine. "Do you wanna go first?" Eliza asked politely, holding out the book for Katherine to take. "It's just two chapters, scouts honour." Locking eyes with Elijah and a smile spreading across her face, Katherine nodded. Eliza huddled closely to one of the few familiarities she had at that moment, listening to the fate _thump thump_ of Katherine's heartbeat and her voice as she projected across the room. Katherine played with Eliza gold ringlets as she spoke, a comforting gesture as she sat beside one of the few people who shared her want for familiarity, comfort, and somewhere not to be so lonely.

Not wanting to see Elijah and Eliza see her tear up, Katherine began. "All children must grow up, but there's one who does not..."

* * *

**Next chapter: Getting to know each other and a trip to the future!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you for reading and reviewing last chapter! I'm glad you all liked it! :)**

* * *

_Mystic Falls, 2023_

_Kol Mikaelson had seen many unusual sights in his time as a vampire, but this one topped them all without a doubt. Ten minutes ago Bonnie Bennett had called, awakening him from a deep slumber he had been taking in his apartment. Her voice had sounded disturbingly grave, and had refused to tell him what was wrong over the phone. She insisted over and over that it was something he had to hear in person, almost sounding like she was about to tear up. So he had raced over, with a massive list of worries jumbling in his mind as to what could have occurred._

_As he entered the apartment Kol silently shut the door, listening closely to what sounded like a woman sobbing. Kol glanced down at his feet, where a massive pile of what he guessed were shopping bags had been dumped in a haste. _

_As soon as he looked up, Bonnie came around the corner of the apartment to greet him. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, and she looked as though she was on the verge of beginning to do so again. Without so much as a word he enveloped her in an affectionate hug, as whatever had happened seemed to have upset her greatly. "What's wrong?" he queried. Bonnie breathed heavily, looking up for a second before willing herself to speak. "It's all my fault." Kol frowned in confusion, wondering what she meant. "What is? Bonnie what are you talking about?" Bonnie took a hold of his hand, talking him not too far down the hall where her study was. What had happened? What was so serious that caused Bonnie, and this was_ _Bonnie to cry?_

_Once they had reached the doors of Bonnie's study, Kol caught sight of the person who he had heard crying when he had come in. Despite her face being hidden by her hands, he could tell instantly by the blonde hair that it was Caroline. But what was wrong? _

_Yet slowly Kol pieced it together, as he suddenly remembered a phone conversation he had had with Bonnie whilst half-asleep. Caroline was to go on a shopping trip with her mother, and so Bonnie had volunteered to watch her young daughter Eliza while she was out. Where was his young little progeny anyway? Kol glanced back at the dumped shopping bags, and then returned his gaze to the sobbing Caroline before settling his eyes upon Bonnie in disbelief._

"_No."_

**New Orléans, 2013**

"Blergh!" groaned Eliza, yawning tiredly. Had she fallen asleep? Last she remembered they had gone way past two chapters of the book, and Elijah was doing a bad imitation of a pirate. Eliza made an attempt to stretch her arms out, yet for some reason she couldn't. Her eyes shot open, widening even more as she giggled at what had happened. Both Katherine and Elijah were fast asleep beside her, and she quickly spotted what had happened to her arms. To her left, her hand was trapped beneath Elijah's shoulder, and to her right her hand was a substitute pillow for Katherine's head. Neither were causing her any pain, but she found it slightly uncomfortable with the weight that was being forced upon her hands.

Careful to not awake the pair, Eliza quietly shimmer her hand free from Elijah's shoulder. "That's gonna leave a mark," she whispered to herself, glancing at her hand warily. Freeing her other hand wasn't as easy, so in order to do it Eliza pulled it free with a sharp tug. She cringed as Katherine began to stir, but a moment later she seemed to settle back into her slumber. Eliza began to quietly move so she could get off the bed without waking Elijah and Katherine, but suddenly she was struck with a sneaky idea. She jumped off the bed, and raced out into the hallway. Eventually she found what she assumed was Elijah's room, and began to search.

_Please have one!_ _Please!_

Eventually she struck gold, finding a camera tucked neatly away in his desk draw. In a flash she hurried back to the room she had been staying in, and jumped back on the bed. Carefully she moved Katherine on to her side, positioning her body next to Elijah's. Next she moved Elijah's arm across to Katherine, placing it so that it was wrapped around Katherine's side. Eliza grinned proudly at her achievement, taking a quick picture with the camera she retrieved. Carefully she placed the camera under the bed, shutting the door with one last parting giggle at the sight she had caused.

...

_No. Nope. That's gone stale. Ah ha!_

Eliza grinned happily in triumph, sliding down from the counter with her cereal box in hand. At first she had been worried they'd be nothing to eat once her stomach had started growling hungrily, but luckily her trip through the kitchen had paid off. She was quite proud, as she was rather resourceful if she said so herself. Eliza spoon spotted a nearby stool, pushing it across to the kitchen counter before climbing up to sit upon it. Where had Klaus gone anyway? She was rather curious to know what had been so important.

Without a word she began to eat her cereal, pausing for a moment as she noticed the sun had barely risen since she had sat down. _Early bird catches the worm!_ Her mom had told her every morning._ Or cereal if you want something less gross._ Eliza smiled warmly to herself at the memory, finding herself missing her mother even more than she had before. Plus right now in Mystic Falls, another version of her mom was getting up and going about her life like any other day. She missed her aunt Bonnie too, with her awesome vintage music and kindness. Eliza hoped she didn't blame herself for something that she did, and made a note that when she did get back she'd apologize for acting so reckless. To name a few more there was uncle Stefan, the most over protective and great film watcher she'd ever met, there was uncle Kol, who she could goof around with without fear of being reprimanded.

What would Cece be doing right now? She felt so guilty for leaving the countless amount of people she cared about, including Cece who she had watched over since uncle Matt had first adopted her. Maybe uncle Silas could help her mom figure out what happened, with his vast amount of knowledge about the supernatural that he'd always tell her about, he was bound to know something! I mean, he was older than that pint of milk Salvadork kept in his fridge!

Pausing to eat the last of her cereal, Eliza perked up considerably when she noticed an iPod that had been left on the kitchen counter. The ear phones were still with it, so Eliza assumed that they belonged to Rebekah and had been forgotten when she had left last night. Maybe that had been the reason why she kept humming when she was making dinner! Eliza reached out for the ipod grabbing a hold of it, and switching it on hurriedly. What if Rebekah caught her with it? When she had caught her uncle Kol doing something similar, he had told her with as much seriousness as he could muster that rule number one of looking at a person's private property was to never get caught. Which now that she thought about, he was pretty bad at. And to be fair, it was just an ipod.

As she waited for it to switch on she glanced at the model, recognising the version from a box of stuff Alannah had been sorting through once when she was forced to be babysat by her. ... had been there that day. Eliza shuddered both mentally and physically, as she thought back to that day.

_..._

"_-then Bobby told me my crayon drawings were beautiful, just like my hair!" Fiona Gilbert gushed, fidgeting with her hair as she spoke. "Guess what happened next?" She asked the annoyed Eliza, who had been forced to sit beside Fiona by Leia who was stressfully talking to someone on the phone. "Bobby's friends handed him ten dollars, for having to endure mental torture?" Eliza replied in a mocking bright tone similar to Fiona's. "He gave me a daisy!" Fiona sighed happily. When Fiona turned her back to retrieve a colouring crayon, Eliza imitated the action of barfing at the comment._

"_It must be true love." Eliza muttered._

"_What?"_

"_Nothing!"_

"_So anyways. Right before recess, Danny Hughes-" Eliza put her fingers in her ears one Fiona began talking once more, quietly murmuring the words "shut up Fiona" repeatedly and quietly enough so that Layla didn't hear her. Before she knew it, the door to the house opened, revealing one of Eliza's worst enemies and one of the higher graded people on__** "**__The List."_

"_Uncle Damon!" Fiona squealed happily, ignoring her rant completely and running forth for Damon to hug her. "Hey kid," he greeted, putting Fiona down before taking off his jacket. He was about to dump it upon the couch, when he noticed Eliza sitting in front of said couch on a chair facing Fiona's mini table and chair set. _

"_Blondie Jr." He acknowledged with a nod, before dumping his jacket._

"_Salvadork," Eliza returned the nod, sipping some juice from her teacup._

_..._

Not to mention the dinner.

Eurgh. Carrots. Endless carrots. Those people should be ashamed.

The bright light emitting from the iPod indicated that it was finally on, prompting Eliza to have a look. Selecting the songs option, Eliza stared wide-eyed in horror at the song selection. Dear god, wasn't that the band that made the movie Fiona would watch whenever she was forced to come over? The one that slowly made her go blind? Oh dear, and that retired male solo artist April called a visionary and she called a girl? Well, it was safe to say Eliza and her aunt Rebekah did not share the same taste in music. After a minute or two of looking through the song list, Eliza happened across one song she recognised.

...

What the?

Katherine awoke with a start, freezing at what she was greeted with. Somehow she and Elijah had ended up spooning, with Eliza nowhere to be seen. God! If it wasn't awkward enough with the fact that she was here, she had been put in a bit more than a friendly position. In order to not awake him Katherine slipped from Elijah's grasp, tiptoeing from the bed and out the room before he so much as stirred.

Yet as soon as she left the room, she was met with yet another unusual thing. She was positive she could smell a waft of pancakes from downstairs, whilst someone was singing. Really, really loudly. If that was who she thought it was, she clearly didn't know what a volume limit was. As Katherine headed down the stairs, the singing volume only increased more seemingly originating from the kitchen. _"I got a pocket got a pocket full of sunshine, I've got a pocket got a pocket full of sunshine, I've got a pocket got a pocket full of sunshine-" _Katherine stared in amusement as she emerged in the kitchen, watching the entertaining sight of Eliza dancing and singing around the kitchen as she appeared to be setting out knives and forks at the counter. She eventually stopped at one area with her back still turned to Katherine, moving jerkily to the music ignorantly. Resisting the urge to laugh, Katherine slowly bent down and plucked the earphones from Eliza's ears.

Eliza spun around ipod in hand, going completely red once she caught sight of Katherine's smile. "How long were you standing there?" Eliza cringed, placing the ipod to one side in an attempt to avoid Katherine's knowing stare. "Long enough Lizzie, long enough." Katherine retorted, seating herself down on a stool without realizing Eliza was sticking her tongue out at her as she followed suit. As soon as Katherine's eyes were greeted with what was placed before her on the counter, her jaw went agape. She turned her eyes to Eliza, who was smiling innocently at Katherine's unspoken burning question that was on the edge of her lips.

"What are these?"

"Pancakes!" Eliza replied chirpily.

Katherine stared back at them once more.

"You know, those flat things you pour syrup or whatever you like on?"

Katherine continued to stare in wonder.

"Yummy?" Eliza tried.

"But how do you know how to cook?" Katherine asked, glancing at the girl and the plate full of pancakes repeatedly, blinking to test if they were really there. "Oh no, I only know how to make pancakes. They're not my best work, but I'm thinking about going national when I improve," Eliza jokingly explained, placing her chin against her hands in boredom. "Who the hell trusted you to cook, enough to teach you?" Katherine queried, eyeing the pancakes with interest.

"You did."

Katherine looked up in surprise at the answer, finding herself just that bit more curious. "I did?" Katherine remarked. "Ah huh. Early winter back when I was seven, we got snowed in once and due to boredom and what I think was a sugar rush, we both ended up hungry and bored enough for you to want to "pass down knowledge to you Lizzie." Eliza quoted directly. "We decided on pancakes." She added as an afterthought. "So you're an ten year old-" Eliza nodded. "-who knows how to make pancakes." Eliza nodded once more.

"Right, course you are."

"Heard that!"

"So we're friends in the future then huh?" Katherine commented, not all that surprised she had befriended the similar behaved child. "How did that happen? You're mom and I aren't exactly the best of friends."

"Well," Eliza began, coughing in order to put on her best storyteller voice. "Uncle Stefan used to babysit me a lot when I was a baby, and apparently when I was at the Boarding House a lot of times you'd pop up there. Stef says I took a liking to you, and over time you were allowed to spend more time with me to the point where you proved you could be trusted and you were even left alone with me." Katherine raised her brows at the story in shock, the fact that Stefan had been willing to offer her a chance after all that had occurred between the two and of course her change in species.

"You wouldn't happen to know if I'm still human in the future, would you?" Katherine questioned, the thought of remaining so spreading out in a daunting, limited road. "No." Eliza shook her head. "Mom eventually caved. She said she needed at least one eternal nanny," chuckled Eliza, as Katherine dug into her pancakes.

...

_Mystic Falls, 2023_

_Kol entered the room warily, as Caroline caught sight of him from her place in the study chair. Caroline turned away from him, beginning to look through the pile of open books and papers that Bonnie had upon her desk. Suddenly she sharply stood up, starting to pace throughout the room. "Caroline!" "Caroline!" Kol grasped a hold of her shoulders, forcing her to face him. Kol couldn't believe how different she looked at that point, when he had seen her only a day previously, perky, confident and bubbly when she had dropped by to see him._

_Now she was red eyed, her eyes watering whilst her hair was stuck up in odd angles from the amount of times she had ran her hair through it. "Do you think she went to that Delhi place down the street? She kept telling me over and over we should go out for a change! Or what about Matt's? She always says we don't visit him enough and I just-" _

_The moment Caroline erupted into a fresh wave of sobs, Kol pulled her into a hug as she let it all out for just a few minutes. Kol sat her down upon the chair one more, taking note of the object she was grasping. "What's that?" he nodded. Caroline looked down in confusion, having seemingly forgotten what she had been grasping hard enough that she could pull it apart. "It's a book." Caroline sighed, glancing at what didn't seem like much to some, but it did to her. "I know it's not much, couple of pictures to colour in and a story- but...Whenever we went past this used bookstore in the mall she'd always tell me she was gonna put it on her Christmas list!" recounted Caroline, a tiny smile forming on her face as she wiped away her tears. "I-I erm- I got her it today. I was gonna surprise her when I came to pick her up, but-" Kol nodded in understanding as she trailed off, seeing that to Caroline that object was a little reminder of daughter and it wouldn't serve well to part her with it._

_Truthfully he despised having to see her like this._

_When he'd gone on a drinking binge with Niklaus after being undaggered, he'd managed to catch only a glimpse and a few searing words from Caroline. And with the times he came and went from Mystic Falls, he never got a proper introduction to the woman that had his brother wrapped around her dainty little finger. But then he died. For almost a year he and Bonnie had been trapped on the other side, having made a begrudged alliance to try and attempt to return to the world of the living. As he and Bonnie had become less antagonistic towards each other, he found himself spending more and more time with her and her friends._

_He had never got to see his family after he returned._

_It was sickening when he had witnessed their nonchalant reactions to his death, so why would they care if he returned to life. Bekah had barely bat an eyelid, Niklaus threw one half-hearted hissy fit that he never followed through on, and Elijah seemed to just brush his death under the rug if it meant helping his favourite doppelganger Elena. He'd had one brief phone call with Klaus and even then, his newly living status was barely a blimp on his radar now that he was attempting to "steal the throne" off that street kid he'd turned. Marcel was it? And over time, although he'd never admit it to any of them, he felt as though he fit in their little group. He adored Bonnie for obvious reasons, he could mock and insult Elena and Damon as much as he liked without fear of being killed, he could have a wingwoman in Forbes, he had a progeny and sidekick in Eliza, and he never had to buy a new bat anymore._

_Life was...Alright._

_Besides, the kid needed at least one vampire (such as himself) to pass down all of his wisdom and charms._

_Caroline was someone he had come to respect over time, and was definitely someone he could count on to have his back if he picked a fight with the wrong witch. Plus, she was one hell of a drinking buddy. And this, this wasn't her. "Caroline, wherever she is right now I can assure you she'll be fine." Assured Kol._

"_How can you know that? How do you know she's not hurt, or lost somewhere?"_

"_Because I know her. You're girl is resourceful, she's well aware of how to track down a witch, and she's clever. Caroline she got that from somewhere-and she did not get it from Niklaus." Caroline spared at smile at Klaus's expense, feeling a small but steady renewal of hope at Kol's words. "Thanks Kol." She nodded. "I think I also may have an idea." Caroline watched from the doors as Kol left, pulling Bonnie aside to explain something. Knowing Kol it was probably something she wouldn't like, and so he wouldn't tell her until she couldn't back out. But she needed to. Caroline pulled out her cellphone, and began to scroll though her list of contacts. She had always ignored the number, but had kept it just in case. God, what was she going to say? It would be so out of the blue and random, and she really, really couldn't tell him over the phone._

"_Hello?"_

"_Hi Klaus."_

_..._

**New Orleans, 2013**

"Ka-tah-rina." Eliza tested.

"Dead on." Katherine laughed, taking a bite of a pancake. "I'm Elijah!" Eliza giggled, as she attempted an English accent, that Katherine was sure was a mixture of a Yorkshire and Australian accent. "My entire wardrobe consists of fashionable suits, because I'm just dead trendy!" Eliza fake gushed, letting out an obnoxious fake laugh.

"Trendy?"

"I heard it on Doctor Who once."

The two settled into a comfortable silence, as Eliza waited for her Kathy to finish. She began to think of possible ways to ask her, but out of all the possible ways she could ask her, it seemed the question needed to be worded simply and bluntly

"Do I need new clothes?"

"Yes."

"Can you take me somewhere to buy some new ones?" Eliza asked, whilst Katherine looked rather touched that she was being asked. "Alright." She agreed with a genuine smile. "I'll be trying to dodge your dad as much as I can so-" Katherine froze as Eliza embraced her in a tight hug, which she was quite sure was cutting off her circulation.

"Eliza?" she managed to breathe out.

"Oh! Sorry!" she apologized, freeing Katherine from her grasp. "I don't give my hugs away lightly though!" Eliza warned, appearing as serious as a father lecturing his child. "Or nicknames." Eliza suddenly thought. "Only people I like get nicknames." Katherine smirked cheekily, suddenly getting a great idea. "So if Stefan and Damon are "Steffy" and "Salvadork", how about you tell me some more?" "Okay." "Just like that?" Katherine checked, as though she couldn't quite believe it. "Yeah." Eliza nodded.

"Okay... Rebekah?"

"Barbie Bear. But I'm thinking of looking for a replacement."

"Elijah?"

"Lijah. I could call him Mr Stinson, but I doubt he'd know what I was talking about."

"Your mom?"

"Mommny'o, Blondezilla, Vampire Barbie, and BB to name a few."

"Mommy'o?"

"She was Jackie Kennedy for a dance one year, what of it?"

"Matt Donovan?"

"Blue eyes. 'Cos his eyes are really blue, and I couldn't think up a better nickname for him."

"Elena?"

"Layla has a countless amount of nicknames."

"Me?"

"Kathy, KP, Freddy Kruger when I see you in the morning without our makeup."

Katherine nudged Eliza playfully, as she simply continued to giggle at her look of utter outrage as she shook her head.

"Jeremy?"

"GI J."

Katherine snorted, as Eliza burst into uncontrollable laughter. Katherine watched as she did so, still wondering if she should ask. Would she even know? Would she even want to tell her? Deciding she might as well, Katherine went for it. "Eliza, how is you-well," Katherine gestured to her, "exist?" The smile on Eliza's face disappeared, being replaced with a frown that Katherine was pretty sure looked a bit angry. "Your mom is a vampire, and-"

"So you think I'm lying?"

"No it's just-"

"Kathy I'm more than far from home. I miss my family and I want to go home, so what reason do you think I have to lie?" Eliza questioned, finding how her nervous Katherine had turned a little suspicious. "No!" Katherine shook her head, grasping Eliza's hands. "It's just that although your dad has his werewolf side, I was wondering how-" Katherine trailed off once more at the look Eliza was shooting her as though she had killed someone, when she suddenly realized what she had done. But she couldn't say! This was Klaus's secret to tell her, and Eliza needed to hear it from him seeing as how she clearly didn't know. She hated lying to the kid, but it wasn't something she needed to hear from her.

"Dad's also a vampire too."

"Yes, it's just-"

"That would imply you already knew he could have kids through his werewolf side, even though I never mentioned it."

"I heard it from a witch. When I was on the run."

"Oh." Eliza nodded, seeming to buy the answer. "Okay." She smiled, the somewhat hostile air that had existed between the two disappearing. "Not too bad then?" Eliza nodded to the pancakes. "Not bad." She nodded playfully, as the two started to giggle childishly one more.

...

Eliza could tell she was lying.

She loved Kathy dearly, and knew that when she hid something from her it was for a good reason. But she had learned years ago the giveaway traits that told her she was lying, and right now she was. She'd heard Elijah and Katherine whisper something about her not knowing about something last night from the living room, which had caused this to only peak her curiosity even more. Oh well, maybe she'd find out what the big dark secret was over time.

"You've got to do the accent again!" declared Katherine, as soon as she had finished eating. Eliza smiled, clearing her throat before speaking. "Elijah here. I'm from London town, where suits are all the range along with my hair!" Eliza impersonated, stopping suddenly as Katherine froze with just a smile on her face. Eliza went bright red, and sighed.

"He's standing right behind me isn't he?"

Katherine continued to smile, nodding at the question, prompting Eliza to turn around. She was faced with a sleepy eyed Elijah in a ruffled suit, who was staring at her mouth wide open in joking anger. "I actually originate from Mystic Falls Eliza," Elijah corrected, warmly chuckling at how embarrassed she looked. He glanced down at the kitchen counter, before looking back up to meet the eyes of Katherine and Elijah.

"Pancakes?"

...

"ONE LOVE!" "ONE HEART!" "LET'S GET TOGETHER AND FEEL ALRIGHT!"

Elijah and Katherine shared a wordless look from their place at the kitchen, as while they waited for Elijah to finish his breakfast Eliza had seemingly forgotten her embarrassment and had opted to turn on Rebekah's ipod once more. Once the song had finished, Eliza bowed. "Thank you!" she laughed, as Katherine and Elijah clapped for her benefit. "And now for my next trick!" she announced, placing the ipod away. "Getting dizzy!" she screeched, beginning to spin around into the adjoined living room. Katherine and Elijah shared a knowing smile at Eliza's rather unique antics, both rather glad to be together talking about something that wasn't the cure or another supernatural element.

"She's-" Katherine searched for a word, turning her head back to Eliza as she still continued to spin out of her sight. "Something." She finished, turning back around to take a sip of her coffee. "I can't say I disagree." Elijah agreed, finding the child odd but a pleasant presence to be around. "You know, I apparently teach how to make pancakes." Katherine attempted to make conversation, as an awkward silence began to fill the void. "Why I never had you pegged for the cooking type Katerina," Elijah played along. "There's lot of things you don't know about me. Lijah." Elijah smirked. "Katerina-" "Don't." She cut him off, not ready to talk. "If you want my protection you may have it. I only left because-"

"Because what?" she snapped. "Because of _her? _Elijah I don't want your pity, I came here because I thought that maybe after everything, I could just-" Elijah cut her off with a kiss, pulling her closely to him for a minute before he felt a brute sharp slap connect with his cheek.

"Don't do that!"

"Kiss you?"

"Plant one on me, when you clearly don't want anything to do with me anymore."

"Well maybe I've changed my mind."

"Why? Because I'm human?"

"No, because I love you."

Katherine froze at the words, gulping at the stone cold serious expression on Elijah's face. However before either could reply, both heard the sound of the front door opening. Katherine guessed it was either Klaus or Rebekah, neither of whom were particularly fond of her. She rolled her eyes as Elijah stepped protectively in front of her, her blood running cold as Klaus came round the corner.

"Well, well, well." He commented, eyes immediately settling on Katherine. "Look who's playing happy families," Klaus mocked, leaning into the side of the doorway. "Here I thought you had a bit brains then that, then to take her back twice Elijah." Klaus tutted disapprovingly, as though he was scolding a misbehaving dog.

"Niklaus-"

Never before had Elijah and Katherine been thankful for an interruption, as before Elijah could finish his sentence Eliza bumped into Klaus's leg. The unplanned contact made sure she fell to the floor in front of him, as she continued giggling ignorantly. "Landing gone wrong," she explained, jumping up to her feet. A few seconds passed, before she suddenly remembered what she had bumped into. "Oh hi!" Eliza smiled, rushing forward as Klaus kneeled down to hug him. "What's going on?"

* * *

**Next chapter: Shopping and a reluctant trip to the fair!**


End file.
